Company Announcement - Master Builders Association North has advised members that the Ministry of Labour intends to introduce a “Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value”. Dr Deon Landmann, Education, Training and Transformation Manager of MBA North, says the new Code aims to achieve "remuneration equity" in the workplace.  “The intention is not that everyone will receive equal pay, but that there will be equity between those doing the same work, or work of equal value.  Internationally women, for example, are still being discriminated against, as are the disabled. In South Africa, discrimination based upon race arising from of the country’s history of job reservation, also still applies,” Dr Landmann states. 

The proposed new Code includes the requirement for certain (mainly listed, larger, and public) companies to have a Social and Ethics Committee under Regulation 43 of the Companies Act, for the purpose of monitoring implementation of Employment Equity and also the International Labour Organisation Protocol on “decent work and working conditions”. It also calls for a Remuneration Committee with a mandate to monitor discrimination in remuneration practices.

Dr Landmann says SA's Constitution requires compliance with international legislation and in 1995 ratified the ILO Remuneration Convention of 1951. “Article 3 of the Convention calls for ‘objective’ appraisal of jobs performed.  This does not mean a formal job evaluation system, but if a system is used, it is no longer sufficient to simply say: ‘that's what the system says’. It will now be necessary to interrogate the results to ensure that the outcome fairly evaluates and compares work that is similar and of equal value - particularly between men and women as the evaluation systems have in the past been constructed upon male-dominated jobs.” He adds that the Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value lists in detail factors that may be taken into account in making the comparison, and also what conditions may justify a difference in remuneration.