Mapping strategies to overcome employment equity barriers at Durban University of Technology (DUT).

Abstract

The Employment Equity (EE) Act seeks to achieve equity in the workplace by ensuring fair treatment and equal opportunities for all employees. This is to be achieved through eliminating unfair workplace discrimination and implementation of affirmative action to ensure equal representation in all occupational levels to redress the imbalances of the past. The Durban University of Technology is an organisation with a diverse workforce, as reported in DUT (2016a). Like many other organisations in South Africa, the University’s progress towards achieving its employment equity target is very slow. This can be attributed to possible barriers in the implementation of the EE Act. There is a need to identify these obstructions and device strategies to fast-track compliance. The purpose of the study was to identify effective strategies that can be used to eliminate the barriers of an efficient implementation of the employment equity act, 55 of 1998 at Durban University of Technology. The study used a quantitative research approach. A simple random probability sampling technique was used to draw a representative sample (220) from a population of 490 employees. The results of the study conducted revealed that DUT has most strategies in place, but some are not properly implemented to eliminate EE barriers. Lack of black skilled women in general was identified as the main barrier to EE progression at DUT. Engagement of relevant EE stakeholders like an EE committee and forum to monitor the progress of the EE was identified as the most effective strategy. The study recommends that retention, succession planning and career pathing strategies be crafted and properly executed to further fast-track efficient implementation of EE at DUT.