The Youth Employment Services (YES) amendments to the B-BBEE Codes were gazetted on 28 August 2018 and Practice Guide 1 on 12 October 2018.

YES is a partnership with government, labour and civil society and aims to provide one million South Africans between 18 and 35 years with paid work experience over the next three years. This population group makes up 28% of South Africa’s population, and youth unemployment is about 36%.

The amendments will have significant benefits to organisations that integrate youth employment into their workforce and B-BBEE strategies.

According to the qualification for registration for the YES initiative, generic entities with revenue over R50 million per annum must achieve at least the 40% sub-minimum in each of the priority elements of the generic B-BBEE scorecard.

Qualifying small enterprises with an annual total revenue between R10 million and R50 million must achieve at least 40% in two of the three priority elements with ownership one of the two elements.

Eligible employees are spelled out. They must be between the ages of 18 and 35 and meet the definition of “Black People” as defined in the B-BBEE Act.

According to the Practice Note, the Target for Absorption will not be verified for B-BBEE Recognition during the first year of implementation of the YES initiative.

“Instead, the target for this will be verified when absorption takes place in the following Measurement Period. Absorption is based on the YES Entity’s Target.”

The workplace experience for eligible employees needs to cover a full 12-month period.

Absorption can only take place after the work place experience is completed and the target is based on the YES Targets for YES Measured Entities.

All YES Entities will need to register with the YES Non-Profit Company via their website www.yes4youth.co.za to achieve enhanced B-BBEE recognition. Registration fees for different service levels are provided on the website. The fees include the provision of a cell phone for each YES employee to provide reporting, e-learning and other services.