DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR GENDER ISSUES 2009 DR SHIRLEY M MAHLASE - PDF document

1 DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR GENDER ISSUES 2009 DR SHIRLEY M MAHLASE

OUTLINE This presentation will focus on the following issues:- • Achievements on the 8 Principle Action Plan • Challenges that the Department has Faced • Interventions which the Department has undertaken • Future plans 2

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE 8 PRINCIPLE PLAN • The Department has a policy on Gender, Youth and Disability that was approved in 2007. This policy has the following objectives:- • To ensure that GDY issues are mainstreamed in all Departmental policies. • As part of our EE plan objectives, Reasonable Accommodation for people with disabilities is reported on in the National Employment Equity Consultative Forum that meets quarterly. 3

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE 8 PRINCIPLE PLAN • The Department is the custodian of the Employment Equity Act which seeks to eradicate any racial and gender divides and also to redress the imbalances of the past. • We are also the custodian of the Technical Assistance Guidelines on the Employment of People with Disabilities that is intended to assist with the practical implementation of aspects of the Act relating to the employment of people with disabilities in the workplace. • The Department will soon release an Annual Report on the implementation of the Employment Equity on 24 August 2009. 4

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE 8 PRINCIPLE PLAN • Gender and its interface with disability: The DoL has achieved and exceeded the national target of 2% for people with disabilities by 1%. However, they are concentrated at the lower salary levels • Some of the targets may not be easy to achieve due to demographics of the area e.g. Limpopo & E. Cape. Indians are also concentrated in one or two urbanized districts and are largely in business • When you disaggregate the data according to gender, there are more females in rural areas 5

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE 8 PRINCIPLE PLAN • DoL has achieved certain racial EE targets and exceeded others. E.g. Indians are on target. The racial target for Coloureds and Whites has been met & exceeded. However, the racial target of 78.1% African has not been met • Gender representation: the DoL has achieved & exceeded its female target of 52.8% by 3.3%. Females under-represented at SMS level despite an increase of 31.4% • Women’s day was celebrated on 14 August 2009 and Outstanding Women were awarded . 6

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE 8 PRINCIPLE PLAN • The Department participated in the Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work initiative on 28 May 2009. This initiative seeks to support the development of Women, their representation in the corporate sector and to develop a culture where the rights, opportunities and responsibilities of individuals are not determined by their gender and 18 offices participated. 7

CHALLENGES THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS FACED • The Department put through a bid to National Treasury to fund the establishment of a Gender Unit and it was rejected. • In the absence of this Unit it is difficult to make sure that all gender matters are mainstreamed into departmental plans. • The Department still has a challenge in reaching the 50% women representation at SMS level. • There is an ideological resistance towards females at SMS level from some men and women. This is because the bureaucracy is gendered. Furthermore, patriarchy and male power has shaped the construct of leadership, its culture, discourse and practise. 8

INTERVENTIONS WHICH THE DEPARTMENT HAS UNDERTAKEN • The Department appointed a person on contract as a DD: Special programmes in order to make sure that gender issues were at the fore-front of departmental plans. • The official resigned for a better offer, then for continuity purposes GDY is housed at the Sub-Directorate: Policy Research and Monitoring until the post can be filled. 9

FUTURE PLANS • Create support systems and synergies within the Dept. Establish inter-departmental forums for creating a critical mass to give an impetus to gender mainstreaming. • The Department of Labour could play a pivotal role in conducting research, as part of promoting decent work, on the experiences of women in senior management positions in Government Departments, in order to review legislation and policies as a means of intensifying efforts to improve the participation of women in decision-making. • Create a conducive climate to reasonably accommodate employees with disabilities by orientating staff members on disability issues . • Embark on headhunting of candidates from designated groups e.g. Women, Black People and People with Disabilities to ensure targets are met if other internal recruitment processes have failed 10

FUTURE PLANS • It is also of importance to emphasize that the need to bring men into the gender debate and discourse cannot be underestimated. • Men face a huge change in every area, inter alia, in the workplace, where traditional gender roles are fast changing and they need a shift of mindset; in the family where men’s traditional role as breadwinner has changed. Furthermore, the majority of men are generally experiencing a crisis of masculinity. We also need to establish men’s forums and give men an opportunity to serve as advocates of gender equality. • Need to monitor what type of training females undergo. The UNDP mentions that what women miss is the non-textbook kind of training (Games Mother Never Taught You: Corporate Gamesmanship). Training shouldn’t turn women into surrogate men. • We need to break the glass ceiling by accelerating more females into positions of DDG and DG. 11

12 GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

Status of Women in DoL Workforce as on 30.06.2009 SMS LEVELS (SR 13 -16) Gender Goal Actual Male 54.0 % 69.0% Female 46.1 % 31.0% 13

Status of Women in DoL Workforce as on 30.06.2009 ALL LEVELS Gender Goal Actual Male 54.0 % 43.9 % Female 46.1 % 56.1 % 14

Status of Women in DoL Workforce as on 30.06.2009 SR Level Goal Actual AF – 34.7% AF – 16.7% SR 15 – 16 CF – 4.9% CF – 0% IF – 1.2% IF – 0% WF – 5.3% WF – 0% 15

Status of Women in DoL Workforce as on 30.06.2009 SR Level Goal Actual AF – 34.7% AF – 26.2% SR 13 – 14 CF – 4.9% CF –1.5 % IF – 1.2% IF – 0% WF – 5.3% WF – 4.6% 16

17 Thank You Siyabonga Dankie THE END Rolivhuwa Nakhensa Re a leboga