For the first time in the history of the Employment Equity Commission (EEC), 18 employers appeared before the Review Panel due to non-compliance with the Affirmative Action Act last week.

The summoning of 18 employers came after the Employment Equity Commission disapproved their affirmative action reports because they did not meet the requirements set out in the Employment Act.

The Panel Review discussed the shortcomings of the employers, which entailed questionable figures or insufficient planning, amongst others.

The Employment Equity Commission's Commissioner, Otniel Podewitz, noted that each company was given an opportunity to state and explain its issues as well as provide an undertaking indicating how the company intends to address its shortcomings.

"The companies are then expected to submit their reports, so that's when we will follow up and check whether the promises have been kept. Everyone has a different submission date, and we also send out review officers from time to time to conduct investigations to see whether the undertakings are kept."

The EEC said ineffective monitoring of employers in the past was among the reasons why companies have been slow in implementing the Affirmative Action Act.

This prompted the Commission to do things differently.

"We came up with a scorecard, which is also our first since inception. We also changed the affirmative action template form in order to get the information that is required, and then we also introduced this review panel, so all of these are part of the turnaround strategy that the commission has embarked upon. The idea is to expedite the implementation and improve compliance."

Podewitz also noted that more companies will be summoned. 

Reviews will be conducted on a regular basis, with the next one anticipated for next month.