RVZ International Group (Pty) Ltd ("RVZ") is committed to preventing unfair discrimination and advancing equitable opportunity, both in its own workplace and in the recruitment, placement and labour-hiring services provided by RVZ Personnel Services. This statement gives effect to section 9 of the Constitution, the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 ("EEA") as amended by the Employment Equity Amendment Act 4 of 2022, the Employment Equity Regulations, 2025, and the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 ("PEPUDA").
1.1 No person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee or applicant in any employment policy or practice on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language, birth, or on any other arbitrary ground (EEA section 6(1)). This applies to recruitment and selection, appointment, job classification and grading, remuneration and benefits, terms and conditions, working environment, training and development, performance evaluation, promotion, transfer, demotion, discipline and dismissal (EEA section 1, "employment policy or practice").
1.2 It is not unfair discrimination to take affirmative-action measures consistent with the EEA, or to distinguish, exclude or prefer a person on the basis of an inherent requirement of a job (section 6(2)).
1.3 An employee or applicant may not be victimised for exercising a right under the EEA, for refusing to do anything the EEA prohibits, or for giving information to a labour inspector, the Director-General or the CCMA (EEA section 51).
1.4 Outside the employment relationship — in how we serve consumers, clients, guests, travellers and the public — the same principle applies under PEPUDA sections 6 to 12 and Consumer Protection Act sections 8 to 10, as set out in our Consumer Protection Policy.
2.1 Job criteria at RVZ must relate to the inherent requirements of the job and be supported by evidence. A requirement is inherent only if it is an indispensable attribute of the job, not merely convenient or preferred.
2.2 Stereotypes, assumptions about a group, and customer or client preference are not valid justifications for a criterion. RVZ Personnel Services will not accept a client brief that specifies, or is intended to filter on, a prohibited ground (for example "young", "male", "no family responsibilities", a race or a home language not required by the work), and will advise the client accordingly.
2.3 Applicants are assessed against the same published criteria, using consistent methods, with lawful checks and a privacy notice as POPIA section 18 requires (see our Privacy Policy). Criminal-record, credit and qualification verification is performed only where relevant and proportionate to the role and with the candidate's authorisation.
Under EEA section 6(4) a difference in terms and conditions of employment between employees of the same employer performing the same or substantially the same work, or work of equal value, that is directly or indirectly based on a listed or arbitrary ground is unfair discrimination. RVZ evaluates work using the objective factors in the Employment Equity Regulations (responsibility, skills and qualifications, physical, mental and emotional effort, and conditions of work) and the Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay/Remuneration for Work of Equal Value, and permits differentials only on fair grounds such as seniority, qualifications, performance, demotion and shortage of skill.
4.1 RVZ considers reasonable accommodation for applicants and employees with disabilities and, where appropriate, on grounds of religion, pregnancy and family responsibility, through an interactive, confidential process with the person concerned. Accommodation may include adapting premises, equipment, working time or the way a job is performed, providing assistive technology or an interpreter, adjusting training or assessment methods, or reassigning non-essential duties.
4.2 Accommodation is declined only where RVZ establishes lawfully that it would impose unjustifiable hardship, assessed against the Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the Technical Assistance Guidelines, taking account of the cost, the size and resources of the business and the effect on operations. A decision to decline is recorded with reasons and the person may appeal under the Grievance and Fair Procedure Policy.
4.3 Where a client site is the place of work for a placed worker, RVZ raises accommodation needs with the client under the assignment agreement and will not place a worker where necessary accommodation is refused without lawful justification.
5.1 Medical testing of an applicant or employee is prohibited unless legislation permits or requires it, or it is justifiable in the light of medical facts, employment conditions, social policy, the fair distribution of employee benefits or the inherent requirements of a job (EEA section 7(1)). HIV testing is prohibited unless the Labour Court has determined it justifiable (section 7(2)). Pregnancy testing is not conducted.
5.2 Psychological and similar assessments are used only where they have been scientifically shown to be valid and reliable, can be applied fairly to all employees, are not biased against any employee or group, and, where required, have been certified by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (EEA section 8).
5.3 Medical surveillance required under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 for specific hazards is conducted by an occupational health practitioner and the results are held in confidence.
Harassment on a prohibited ground — including sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying and any unwelcome conduct that impairs dignity or creates a hostile or intimidating environment — is a form of unfair discrimination under EEA section 6(3). RVZ applies the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (2022) in every work-related setting, including client sites, events, travel and online, through its Prevention and Elimination of Harassment policy (POL-PEO-03). Under EEA section 60 an employer that is informed of alleged harassment must consult the relevant parties and take the necessary steps to eliminate it; RVZ does so, and a manager who becomes aware of possible harassment must act and refer it.
7.1 Chapter III of the EEA (affirmative action, consultation, analysis, employment-equity plans and annual reporting to the Director-General) applies to a designated employer. Following the 2022 amendments, an employer that employs fewer than 50 employees is not a designated employer irrespective of turnover, unless it is bound by a collective agreement appointing it as one. RVZ reviews its headcount and status under the current thresholds at least annually and whenever its workforce changes materially.
7.2 When and for as long as RVZ is a designated employer, it will: consult a consultative forum representative of employees; conduct the analysis required by section 19; prepare and implement an employment-equity plan under section 20 aligned to the sectoral numerical targets published under section 15A and the 2025 Regulations; assign a senior manager responsibility for the plan (section 24); display the summary of the Act (section 25); report annually to the Director-General (section 21); and obtain the certificate of compliance under section 53 required for state contracts.
7.3 Whether or not it is designated, RVZ voluntarily pursues the objects of the EEA: it seeks a workforce broadly representative of the people of South Africa and the Northern Cape, prioritises training and advancement of people from designated groups (Black people, women and people with disabilities), and removes barriers in its policies and practices. Employment-equity measures are substantive; they are never applied as absolute barriers to any group, and RVZ will not misrepresent its status, targets or achievements.
8.1 RVZ Personnel Services operates as a private employment agency and, for labour hiring, as a temporary employment service under the Employment Services Act 4 of 2014 ("ESA") and Labour Relations Act sections 198 to 198D. ESA section 15 prohibits an agency from charging a work-seeker any fee for placement services; RVZ charges clients, never candidates.
8.2 EEA section 9 extends the protection against unfair discrimination to applicants. RVZ applies this statement to every candidate it sources, screens, assesses or presents, and requires clients, in Schedules 2 and 3 to our Terms and Conditions, to make selection decisions lawfully. Where a client's instruction would require RVZ to discriminate unfairly, RVZ will decline and record the refusal.
8.3 A placed worker deemed under LRA section 198A to be the client's employee must be treated on the whole not less favourably than the client's comparable employees; disparities in pay or conditions on that basis may be raised with RVZ, the client or both.
8.4 Candidate data is processed for the purpose of the specific placement, with a privacy notice, and is not used for unrelated marketing without a lawful basis (Terms clause 13.4).
RVZ measures and, where applicable, verifies its broad-based black economic empowerment status under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 and the Codes of Good Practice, and applies the same equality principles in its own procurement and supplier development. Its current status document is published under Documents & Reporting. Under B-BBEE Act section 13O, misrepresenting or fronting in relation to B-BBEE status is an offence; RVZ's B-BBEE Compliance policy (POL-BEE-01) prohibits it.
10.1 Concerns about discrimination, harassment or accommodation may be raised confidentially with your manager, Human Resources at info@rvzgroup.co.za, the Employment Equity Manager, or through the routes in our Grievance and Fair Procedure Policy and Whistleblowing Policy. No one will be victimised for doing so.
10.2 Under EEA section 10 an employee or applicant may refer an unfair-discrimination dispute to the CCMA within six months of the act or omission; the CCMA may arbitrate where the dispute concerns sexual harassment or the referring party earns below the BCEA threshold or all parties consent, and otherwise the dispute may proceed to the Labour Court. In discrimination on a listed ground the employer bears the onus of proving that the discrimination did not take place or was rational, not unfair or otherwise justifiable (section 11). Non-employment discrimination may be taken to the Equality Court under PEPUDA, and complaints may also be made to the South African Human Rights Commission or the Commission for Gender Equality.
This page is the public edition of RVZ's Employment Equity, Equality and Reasonable Accommodation policy (POL-PEO-02) and reflects the legislation cited as at the date shown above. It is not legal advice and does not limit any right under the EEA, PEPUDA or the Constitution.