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The Employment Equity Act was developed to address the profound challenge of
employment equity in South Africa as a result of the discriminatory policies of the
past. It acknowledges that in order to promote an equitable workplace for the
identified disadvantaged groups, a rigorous policy of redress is necessary. The
Employment Equity Act seeks to facilitate a workforce that demographically
represents the country’s diversity by, amongst other things, identifying people
with disabilities as a group that had been categorically disadvantaged.
People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed and generally earn
less even when employed. Both employment and income outcomes appear to
worsen with the severity of the disability. It is harder for people with
disabilities to benefit from development and escape from poverty due to
discrimination in employment, limited access to transport, and lack of access
to resources to promote self-employment and livelihood activities.
People with disabilities may have extra costs resulting from disability – such as
costs associated with medical care or assistive devices, or the need for
personal support and assistance – and thus often require more resources to
achieve the same outcomes as non-disabled people. Because of higher costs,
people with disabilities and their households are likely to be poorer than non-
disabled people with similar incomes.
All these factors mentioned above affect people with disabilities and also the
people that stay with them significantly therefor it is important to accommodate
people with disability to ensures equality for disadvantaged people, also to allow
people to be evaluated in fair manner and also enhances respect for the
individual and protects workers from discriminatory attitude.
References
According to the Employment Equity Act, reasonable accommodation means “any modification or
adjustment to a job or to the working environment that will enable a person from a designated group to
have access to or participate or advance in employment”. In South Africa, reasonable accommodation
applies to all persons, regardless of disability, as an integral component of the general principle of non-
discrimination.Thus, reasonable accommodation must be provided to ensure equal opportunities on
account of not only disability, but other grounds for discrimination such as age and sex.
• ensure and demonstrate equitable representation of designated groups in all occupational categories
and levels; and
• retain and advance individuals, including providing training. Thus the Employment Equity Act has a
profound impact on how employers are expected to implement employment equity activities, including
reasonable accommodation.
The background to the duty to provide for a reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation builds on the understanding that only applying a
formal approach to non-discrimination will do little to help many people with
disabilities. Reasonable accommodation recognizes the relevance of
“impairment” - if one ignores the impact of an impairment, and treats a person
with a disability in exactly the same way as one treats a person without a
disability, a de facto situation of inequality will arise. The notion of reasonable
accommodation was developed to address this situation.
Requires an employer to take account of the characteristics related to disability,
and to accommodate them by, e.g. changing the job or the physical environment
of the workplace. „Instead of requiring disabled people to conform to existing
norms, the aim is to develop a concept of equality which requires adaptation and
change.‟ (Sandra Fredman) This obligation to accommodate is not unlimited –
and is subject to the requirement that the accommodation does not result in a
disproportionate burden.
What is an accommodation? “Appropriate measures should be provided, i.e.
effective and practical measures to adapt the workplace to the disability, for
example adapting premises and equipment, patterns of working time, the
distribution of tasks or the provision of training or integration resources.
Accommodation requirement applies to all aspects of employment and
employment related benefits. Accommodation does not need to be the best or
ideal solution – but must be “effective and practical”. Good practice for employer
to engage in dialogue with disabled person to identify appropriate
accommodation. Failure to do this may result in breach of obligation.
Job restructuring as a form of reasonable accommodation may involve
reallocating or redistributing the marginal functions of a job. Job restructuring
frequently is accomplished by exchanging marginal functions of a job that cannot
be performed by a person with a disability for marginal job functions performed
by one or more other employees. An employee must be able to perform the
essential functions of the job, but where it is possible to remove certain non-
essential tasks from an employee’s work requirements, this should be done.
Example: An agency has two data processing clerks. Typing on the computer is an
essential function, using the phone is a marginal one. If a qualified data
processing clerk had a speech impairment, it would be reasonable to assign the
function of using the phone to the employee without a speech impairment in
exchange for doing that employee’s filing.
People whose disabilities may need modified work schedules include individuals:
Who require special medical treatment for their disability (such as people with
cancer, HIV/AIDS, or mental illness);
Who need rest periods (including some people who have multiple sclerosis,
cancer, diabetes, respiratory conditions, or mental illness); and
Whose disabilities (such as diabetes) are affected by eating or sleeping schedules,
Flexible leave policies should be considered as a reasonable accommodation
when people with disabilities require time off from work because of their
disabilities. The agency is generally not required to provide additional paid leave
as an accommodation, but should consider allowing use of accrued leave or leave
without pay, where this will not cause an undue hardship.
Training
Reasonable accommodation should be provided, when needed, to give
employees with disabilities equal opportunity to benefit from training to perform
their jobs effectively and to advance in employment. Needed accommodations
may include providing:
If an employee develops his/her disability after being on the job, and can no
longer perform the essential functions of his/her job, the employer may need to
reassign the employee to a vacant position within the agency or within District
government, if doing so does not constitute an undue hardship. The new position
should be one that the employee is qualified to perform and that pays a
comparable salary. Reassignment does not require the employee to compete for
the new position.
Other Accommodations
There are many other accommodations that may be effective for people with
different disabilities in different jobs. Some other accommodations that may be
appropriate include:
An employee makes sporadic site visits to a home for inspection. Mileage is paid
as part of the job. Instead, an employee who doesn’t drive may be allowed to use
paratransit or taxicabs instead of a personal car.
A person with an intellectual disability is hired for a maintenance position. An
employer may offer the use of a job coach for individualized on-the-job training
services.
A person with a learning disability may require assignments and instructions to be
communicated by e-mail, rather than verbally.
70 Silverglen Drive
Silverglen
Durban
4092
I wish to apply for the position above at your company I am fresh graduate from Durban
University and Technology with a Diploma in Analytical Chemistry. I am very active in co-
curriculum activities. I get involved in my school and my college programs in sports like soccer
and table tennis.
I can ensure that I am very keen to learn and ready to take this job as a challenge. I am also
confident with my educational experience, my training experience and my good interpersonal
skills have prepared me for making an immediate contribution for your organization.
Attached is my resume for your reference. Perhaps the details about me will meet your
requirement.
I believe that with my coursework and past work experience, I can make an immediate and
effective contribution to your company. If you need any more information about me, please
feel free to contact me. I would be available at any time to attend an interview at your
convenience and look forward to hear from you soon. Thank you for your time and
consideration.
Sincerely
Ashley Naidoo
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Kyle Nick Lebohang Antonio
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