provides fertile ground for participation

Upon its establishment in 2018, many viewed the Yes4Youth (YES) initiative as worthy, with the potential to create job

opportunities for the Youth whilst supporting organisations in their effort to showcase a more favourable B-BBEE Status

Level. However, most did not expect the impact it would have in creating Youth employment or the operating business

model that would afford them financial independence from Government. Three years on, giving credit where it is due, to

date YES boasts:

> 51,148 work experiences;

> 1,436 businesses signed up;

> R2.8b deployed into the economy;

> 120+ working weeks with no state funding; and

> 400+ B-BBEE Level up gains.

The ideal fertile ground for YES is a buoyant, stable economy where job opportunities translate into Absorption, equating

to low hanging fruit. However, add a global pandemic to the mix, and the ground begins to turn barren; thus the low

hanging fruit becomes few and far between. To keep the momentum in providing opportunities to the Youth, YES is

affording organisations leniency during their first year of participation.

The criteria for participation in YES remains the same, namely

EMEs

QSEs

Large Enterprises

No sub-minimum requirements to qualify.

> Must maintain or improve Status Level attained at previous B-BBEE Verification.

> Achieve 40% sub-minimum requirements for at least two of the three Priority Elements.

> Achieve 40% sub-minimum requirements for at least two of the three Priority Elements.

or

> Score an average of 50% across all three Priority Elements

The conditions for leniency that qualify an organisation to level-up are outlined below. The scenario intends to demonstrate that an organisation can

participate in YES any time before the last date of its financial year.

National Minimum Wage

An organisation must take the amended National Minimum Wage (NMW) of R21,69 into account for all new and existing YES Employees. The

NMW as a policy framework is the floor, a level below which no employee should be paid. The NMW Act dictates that it is an illegal and unfair

labour practice for an employer to unilaterally alter an employee’s working hours or any other employment conditions due to the wage adjustment.

Notwithstanding, the NMW covers the wage payable for ordinary hours of work and excludes allowance payments like transport, tools, food or

accommodation. Payments in kind, such as board and lodgings, tips, bonuses or gifts fall outside the NMW payment requirements.

Since YES was established in 2018, the world has become a different place, turning potentially fertile ground barren. In South Africa, the global

pandemic has exacerbated youth unemployment and increased the numbers of organisations that have had to close their doors for good. However,

through YES offering leniency during the first year of YES participation to those organisations that have managed to trade through the COVID

pandemic, the initiative is essentially supporting a more fertile employment landscape that will again bear low hanging fruit.