Chapter 5 - Affirmative Action

The Employment Equity Act

No person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds including race, gender, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture.

Affirmative Action

Preferential treatment for members of certain disadvantaged groups (most often black people or women)

Preferential Treatment: Outreach

whereby steps are taken to encourage and incentivise applications from members of disadvantaged groups → creating awareness

Preferential Treatment: Tie-breaker

Always favouring a member of a disadvantaged group over an equally qualified member of another group, when both are applicants for the same place, contract and have the same qualifications.

Preferential Treatment: Strong Preference

Goes further than tie-breaker and involves awarding positions to applicants from disadvantaged groups ahead of applicants from other groups, even when the applicants from disadvantaged groups are less qualified.

Preferential Treatment: Quota

A more demanding than the goals or targets of strong-preference AA adopts a quota

Equality of Opportunity

The idea whereby the jobs or positions people have should not be determined by their birth or social circumstances - individuals should have equal opportunities to attain the boj they aspire.

Redress

To do something for someone to make up for treating them badly in the past

Compensatory Redress

When someone wrongfully harms you, they ought to give compensation which brings your level of welfare up to what is would have been in the absence of the wrongful harm.

Rectificatory Redress

The act of making amends for a wrongful action even if the act does not cause harm.