The Employment Equity certificate (s53): bidding for government work, and the 15 January deadline

Since 1 January 2025, every employer that makes an offer to an organ of state has to attach an Employment Equity compliance certificate, or its own declaration verified by the Department of Employment and Labour. An employer with 50 or more employees can request the certificate only after filing its annual EE report, and this year’s report is due online by 15 January 2027.

This guide covers who needs the certificate, what the Department checks before issuing it, the reporting cycle, and how to request it. Section 53 of the Employment Equity Act and the 2025 regulations are the sources; the tender documents guide covers the other proofs a government bid needs.

Who needs an Employment Equity certificate?

Every employer, of any size, that offers to supply goods or services to an organ of state, or to hire or let anything to or from one. Section 53 requires the offer to carry either a compliance certificate or the employer’s declaration, which counts once the Department’s Director-General has verified it; in practice the Department routes every request through its online form. Section 53 came into operation on 1 January 2025 under a 2024 proclamation, and the Department has applied it since. Without it, an organ of state has grounds to reject the offer, or to cancel a contract already signed.

What does the Department check before it issues a certificate?

The 2022 amendments set the conditions:

• the employer has met the numerical target for its sector, or given a reasonable ground for missing it;
• it has filed its annual EE report, if it has to;
• no CCMA or court has found it guilty of unfair discrimination in the previous 12 months;
• the CCMA hasn’t made a minimum-wage award against it in the previous 12 months.

Am I a designated employer?

If you employ 50 or more people, yes. The 2022 amendments removed the old turnover test, so a smaller business is no longer designated because of its turnover; it is designated only if it is an organ of state or a collective agreement designates it. Being designated matters because a designated employer has to plan, consult and report; a non-designated one only has to show it doesn’t discriminate and pays the minimum wage.

What does a designated employer have to file, and by when?

An employment equity plan, prepared after consulting employees (or the representative union, where there is one), and an annual report: the EEA2 together with the EEA4, the statement of income differentials. For the 2026 cycle the Department’s online system opened on 1 September 2026 and closes at 23:59 on 15 January 2027. Manual and posted reports were accepted only until 1 October 2026. An employer that can’t report, for example because the business closed or merged, had to tell the Department on form EEA14 by the last working day of August.

What are the sector targets?

The Minister published numerical targets for 18 sectors on 15 April 2025, covering the four upper occupational levels, with a figure for men and for women from the designated groups at each level, and a 3% target for people with disabilities in every sector. The targets aren’t meant to add up to 100%. A designated employer’s own goals have to comply with its sector’s target, and missing a target carries no penalty where the employer shows a reasonable ground; the regulations list seven, and the High Court has accepted one that isn’t on the list. The Department says 2026 is the first year employers are assessed against the targets.

The targets are being challenged in court. The High Court refused an interim interdict in August 2025, and, according to the Minister, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court refused leave to appeal in 2026. The main challenge, and other cases including one against section 53 itself, have not been decided, and the Department continues to apply the targets and the certificate rules.

How do I get the certificate?

You request it online on the Department’s EE system, on form EEA15:

• A designated employer requests it once its annual report is filed, and the regulations look for a compliant report in the preceding year.
• A non-designated employer declares on the EEA15 that it complies with Chapter II of the Act (the ban on unfair discrimination) and the national minimum wage. It confirms or updates its status on the system first, registering if it has no account.

The regulations make the certificate valid for twelve months from the day it’s issued, and the Department says to renew it every year. The Act itself allows the longer of twelve months or the date of the employer’s next EE report, so check the date on your own certificate. The Department can withdraw a certificate obtained by misrepresentation, or once a condition for issuing it no longer holds, after giving notice and 14 days to respond.

What happens if I don’t report?

Beyond losing the certificate, the Act sets maximum fines that rise with repeat contraventions, from R1.5 million for a first to R2.7 million. For some contraventions, including failing to report or to prepare a plan, the maximum is the greater of those amounts or 2% to 10% of turnover. The Act’s enforcement route runs through labour inspectors, written undertakings and compliance orders, and the Labour Court imposes fines on the Department’s application.

How Komply tracks the certificate and the report

Every Komply workspace has Tender Readiness, where the EE certificate is one of the proofs of good standing:

1. Answer the questions. Whether you bid for government work, which makes the certificate count, and whether you’re a designated employer.
2. Record the certificate. Whether it’s a certificate or a verified declaration, and its issue date. Komply runs a certificate for 12 months from issue, or to the expiry you enter if yours runs longer; a declaration has no set term, so it counts only with the end date you enter. 30 days before it ends, renewing it goes on your docket.
3. Keep the report receipts. The employer register holds this cycle’s EE report and the two before, with the date, reference and receipt, against the 15 January deadline. A non-designated employer’s reports read “not applicable”.

What Komply doesn’t do: it has no link to the Department’s EE system, so it can’t see whether you’ve filed or been issued a certificate, and a year with nothing recorded reads “not recorded”, never late. It doesn’t prepare EE plans or reports, judge your targets, or request the certificate.

Frequently asked questions

Do small businesses need an Employment Equity certificate?

Yes, to make an offer to an organ of state. A business with fewer than 50 employees declares on form EEA15 that it doesn’t discriminate and pays the minimum wage.

When is the 2026 Employment Equity report due?

Online by 23:59 on 15 January 2027. Manual reports closed on 1 October 2026.

How long is an EE compliance certificate valid?

Twelve months from issue under the regulations, or until your next EE report if that is later under the Act. The Department advises renewing it every year.

Who has to submit Employment Equity reports?

Designated employers: those with 50 or more employees, organs of state, and employers designated by a collective agreement.