PRETORIA, June 10, 2025 – The National Advocacy for Corporate Engagement (NACE), a leading advocate for meaningful corporate engagement practices, today announced its formal submission of a proposal to Parliament for a comprehensive Job Seekers’ Bill. This landmark legislation aims to fundamentally transform the South African job market by protecting job seekers’ rights and significantly reducing systemic inequalities embedded in current hiring practices.
“The time has come to level the playing field for all South Africans seeking employment,” stated Sibusiso Nkosi, Chairperson of NACE. “Our proposed Job Seekers’ Bill addresses critical areas of concern, ensuring a more transparent, efficient, and ultimately fairer recruitment process for every individual.”
The proposed Job Seekers’ Bill specifically advocates for three pivotal reforms:
- Abolishing Multiple Interview Rounds: Fostering Efficiency and Reducing Disadvantage:
NACE’s Bill calls for the abolition of more than one round of job interviews for the majority of positions. The current practice of multiple, often redundant, interview stages places an undue burden on job seekers, particularly those from marginalized communities. Traveling to multiple interviews incurs significant costs in terms of transport, time off from current employment or other responsibilities, and even childcare. This disproportionately affects individuals with limited financial resources or those in precarious employment, effectively creating a barrier to entry for highly qualified candidates who cannot afford extensive interview processes. By streamlining interviews, the Bill ensures that a candidate’s merit, not their financial capacity, determines their access to opportunities. - Prohibiting Payslip Requests: Breaking the Cycle of Wage Inequality:
A cornerstone of the proposed Bill is the abolition of requests for payslips from hiring managers. This practice is a major driver of wage inequality, perpetuating historical disadvantages. When new salaries are anchored to previous earnings, individuals who have been historically underpaid, often due to discriminatory practices or systemic biases, continue to be underpaid in new roles, regardless of their skills, experience, or the market value of the position. This disproportionately affects women, minority groups, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. By prohibiting payslip requests, the Bill empowers job seekers to negotiate salaries based on their qualifications and the true value of the role, thus actively contributing to closing the wage gap and promoting economic justice. - Mandating Interviewer Training: Ensuring Impartiality and Eliminating Bias
The Bill further proposes that only interviewers with proof of training to conduct job interviews be allowed on interview panels. Unconscious bias can significantly impact hiring decisions, disadvantaging candidates based on factors unrelated to their qualifications, such as their gender, race, accent, or socio-economic background. By mandating professional training, interviewers will be equipped with the skills to conduct objective assessments, ask relevant and unbiased questions, and identify and mitigate their own prejudices. This ensures that hiring decisions are based solely on a candidate’s suitability for the role, promoting genuine meritocracy and breaking down discriminatory barriers that often hinder diverse talent from accessing opportunities.
“These measures are not merely administrative changes; they are fundamental steps towards building a more inclusive and equitable South African society,” added Nkosi. “The Job Seekers’ Bill will actively work to dismantle systemic inequalities that have long plagued our job market, providing every job seeker with a fair chance to secure meaningful employment and contribute to our nation’s economic growth.”
NACE urges all Members of Parliament to prioritize and support the swift enactment of the Job Seekers’ Bill. The organization remains committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure a fairer and more prosperous future for all South African job seekers.
ENDS
About NACE:
The National Advocacy for Corporate Engagement (NACE) is a social movement that aims to improve corporate SA’s engagement with civil society. There are various policies and pieces of legislation that aim to encourage engagement between Corporate SA and civil society. They could be labour laws, transformation laws and other various acts. In certain instance they are missing elements that should advocate for meaningful and fair engagement. NACE plays a role of making submissions to parliament in order to suggest policy changes, policy improvements or policy development.
Contact:
Sibusiso Nkosi: Chairperson – National Advocacy for Corporate Engagement
admin@nace.org.za
079 785 2676
