Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act No. 55 of 1998)

Code of Good Practice

Integration of Employment Equity into Human Resource Policies and Practices

Part B : During Employment

16. Promotion and Transfer
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16.1SCOPE

 

Promotions and transfers are processes that facilitate employee mobility for various purposes, including career development, succession planning and operational requirements. This should facilitate representation of members of designated groups in all occupational categories and levels, thus meeting employment equity objectives.

 

16.2IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

 

Promotions and transfers have the potential to impact on numerical goals and accelerate equitable representation of all groups in occupational categories and levels within a workplace. These initiatives are key drivers for employment equity in that they can involve fast tracking the advancement towards achieving numerical targets.

 

16.3POLICY AND PRACTICE

 

16.3.1Employers are prohibited from unfair discrimination in promotion and transfer decisions. One of the mechanisms for eliminating unfair discrimination is to ensure that written policies and practices specify the criteria, which apply to promotions and transfers. Managers implementing the policies and practices should be monitored to ensure that they are not applying these inconsistently.

 

16.3.2An employer may implement a policy of preference toward members of designated groups in transfers and promotions as a legitimate affirmative action measure.

 

16.3.3Lateral transfers to equivalent positions may be effectively used to achieve employment equity targets. Reasonable provision must be made where an employee requests a transfer.

 

16.4KEY LINKS TO OTHER TOPICS IN THE CODE

 

16.4.1Retention - Promotions and transfers may contribute to retention, specifically in instances where employees from designated groups do not feel sufficiently challenged or rewarded in an existing position.

 

16.4.2Skills Development - Linking promotions and transfers to development and growth opportunities for designated groups will ensure that they do not occur in isolation from numerical targets and employment equity objectives.

 

16.4.3Remuneration - Linking promotions and transfers to remuneration may encourage employees to transfer to a less popular operational or geographic area.