Completion of employment equity declaration form

Dear colleagues

For the University of Cape Town (UCT) to comply with the Department of Labour’s employment equity requirements, the university is requesting your assistance in the completion of the employment equity declaration form by Wednesday, 3 October 2018, at 12:00. The form can be completed online or through hard copy for staff who do not have access to computers or those who prefer to download a printable copy.

Information about the online and hard copy forms

The online and hard copy versions of the form are available in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.

Hard copies can be scanned and emailed to Glenda Kayster (glenda.kayster@uct.ac.za) or delivered by post/hand to the Employment Equity Office, Bremner Building, Room 231.1.

The form can be completed and submitted online.

Should you have any queries about this form or the process, please do not hesitate to contact Glenda Kayster on 021 650 1004 or via email.

Confidentiality

The data from the online form will initially be stored by an external company, iKapa Data, who will then transfer the data to the UCT Human Resource Department. Hard copy forms will be collated by the Employment Equity Office.

The data will be anonymised for distribution to the Department of Labour and for UCT statistical reporting and will be treated with the appropriate confidentiality.

Disability

UCT is committed to the reasonable accommodation of staff with disabilities by ensuring accessible, fair and equal opportunities within the work place.

If you have a disability and would like support and/or services from UCT Disability Services, you are encouraged to select the option to share your disability information only with the manager of the Disability Services, Edwina Ghall. Please note that people with disabilities have the right not to declare their disability unless the disability impacts on the inherent requirements of the job.

The Department of Labour’s Code of Good Practice: Employment of Persons with Disabilities (Section 5.3) defines the term disability in the following way:

“The scope of protection for people with disabilities in employment focuses on the effect of a disability on the person in relation to the working environment, and not on the diagnosis of the impairment. Only people who satisfy all the criteria in the definition:

(i) long-term or recurring;

(ii) having a physical or mental impairment;

(iii) which substantially limits;

are considered as persons with disabilities”.

Refer to Section 5.3 in the Code of Good Practice: Employment of Persons with Disabilities for further details.

Benefit

The benefit of completing the employment equity declaration form is that the university can acquire an accurate picture of its demographic breakdown in terms of nationality, disability, gender and racial/ethnic representivity. This data is then used to shape the UCT goals and inform the employment equity targets that are set for the institution.

UCT will have a comprehensive data set from which to make informed recommendations on aspects of nationality, ethnicity, gender and disability. Furthermore, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) scorecard uses the data to verify the demographic profile of UCT, which influences the UCT BBBEE rating. More importantly, the data will assist you as the employee, as UCT will be able to provide relevant services and support.

Further benefits of this process, as delineated in the Employment Equity Act, are to:

1. promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and
2. implement affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

Please note that the completion of the declaration form may not update the information on the UCT HR system in all cases.

Your assistance in the completion of this form is appreciated.

Sincerely

Professor Loretta Feris
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Transformation

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