LABOUR LAW AND

ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE
Meaning of labour law
 Is a body of rules or a branch of law which
is concerned with the regulation of
employment i.e regulating the relationship
between the employer, employees and trade
unions.

Employer and employees

Employer and trade unions
Employees and trade unions
 Can also be defined as :
• A body of laws; Administrative rulings and
precedent which address the legal rights
and restriction on working people and
their organization.
• it mediate many aspect of a relationship
between trade union, employers and
employees. it applies to matters such as
employment, wages, conditions of
work, labour unions and labour
management relations.
Categories of labour law
We have two categories of labour law
a) Collective labour law
▫ Is the law that regulate to the tripartite
relationship between employer,
employees and trade unions, examples of
trade unions are CWT, TUCTA, RAAWU
b) Individual labour law, this deals with the
employees’ rights at work and the contract
for work
Classification of labour law
There are two classification of labour law;
Substantive labour law
Substantive party is a branch of law which
deals with the identification of rights and
obligations of citizens. it is a branch of labour
law that prescribe the standard to be observed
by both employers and employees, specifically
substantive labour law deals with things like,
contract of service, contract for service,
termination of employment and benefits e.t.c
Eg Emploment and Labour Relations Act,
2004
Cont..
Procedural labour law,
it is the laws that give the direction on how to go
about substantive law or which prescribe for
procedures to be followed in all labour matters,
example Labour Institutions Act.
Development of labour law
• The basic or foundation of labour law is
on wage labour. Wage labour is work
that you do in exchange of payment or
remuneration.
Qn. What are the prerequisite of
wage labour?
Development of commodity economy
as opposed to natural economy;
commodity economy presupposes the
production of suplus.
Cont..
a) Labour power converted into
commodity, there must be labour
which is offered in exchange of money of
capital.
b) Free labour for example in prison
prisoners : forced labour is not free
labour, but it is party of their
punishment. No one should be forced to
work and also only worker who is already
a commodity for exchange in the market.
Functions of labour law
Protection of employees, it protect the
employees by;
o limiting powers of employers to dismiss
or terminate employment without just
reasons
oregulating the wages to be paid to
employees,
oregulating conditions for working
through provision of rest days, leave, and
hours of work.
Cont..
oBy providing care and welfare of
employees i.e. if employee is injured
during work then employer needs to
provide care.
Labour law has the function of balancing
the conflict of interest between employees
and employer (eg) employees’ interest is to
get higher wage while employer interest is
to pay low wage and get more profit.
Cont..
It helps to resolve labour disputes;
it helps in increasing production of goods
and services by maintaining peace at work
place
it helps to prevent working condition from
being pushed below the level which is
acceptable by the society.
Sources of labour law
• Constitution of the United Republic of
Tanzania Article 13 (non-discrimination),
20 (freedom of association), 22 (right to
work), 23 (remuneration), 25 ( prohibit
forced labour)
• statutory law- laws made by parliament
(ELRA of 2004), labour institutions Act of
2004,
• Collective agreement between employees
and employer, or trade union and
employer.
Cont..
• International Labour Standards (ILO
conventions) ,
• Case laws, eg in the case of OmaryMkelevs
M/s Shipping Freight Consultant, Labour
Dispute 6 of 2008, HC Labour Division, in
this case the court interpreted the
provision of section 14(1) C of the
Employment and Labour Relations Act,
concerning the contract of specific task.
Cont..
• Common laws, under common law the source of
rights and obligation between employer and
employees is the contract of employment as
signed by parties. If the dispute arises the term
of contract will be paramount in resolving the
dispute.
LABOUR LAWS & EMPLOYMENT
CONTRACTS IN TANZANIA
NB: Employment laws apply to employees
and not contractors. Therefore it is
important to distinguish between
contract of service and contract for
service as discussed below;
Contract for service v.s contract of
service
• The employee is hired under a contract of
service and he is an independent
contractor under a contract for services.
Cont..
• The distinction between the two is not
always obvious and it falls to the courts to
decide on the issue of the nature of the
employment relationship.
The importance of distinction
between contract of service and
contract for service,
•The rights and remedies provided for under the
Employment and Labour Relations Acts of 2004 only
apply to employees under a contract of service.
• Employers are only vicariously liable for torts
committed by employees who are under a contract of
service.
•In a contract of services, the employer is responsible
under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, whereas
in a contract for services, the independent contractor
is subject to the self-assessment system.
Tests to distinguish contract of srvice
and Contract for service
1.Control test, firstly established in Yewen v.
Noakes (1880). The Irish courts have adopted
this test. In Roche v. Kelly (1968), it was held
that the principal test is the right of the
master to direct servants as to what is to
be done and how it is to be done
Weakness of control test
Difficulties in relation to skilled workers
who are told what to do but not how to do it for
example doctors and engineers
Integration or organisation test.
This test was introduced by Denning LJ in
Stevenson, Jordan & Harrison Ltd. Macdonald
& Evans Ltd. (1952). He stated that an
employee is a person who is integrated
with others in the work place or business
even though the employer does not
necessarily exercise a detailed control
over what he does. The courts, in applying
this test, will consider whether the worker was a
vital part of the operation of the work place
Mixed test,
This is the result of the two test proving
inadequate. in multiple test there are some
indicators;
1) Whether the person was in business of his
own account or whether he was an integral
part of the business;
2) Whether there is a power to hire and fire
the employee)
3) Whether there is direct payment of some
remuneration, however this is criticized
4) Whether there is deduction in
remuneration.
Legal and economic implication of contract of service and
contact for service

•Liability, in contract of service the employer may

be liable vicarious for the wrong act of employee
committed during the work, in contract for service
he may not be liable for the wrongful act of the
contractor
•Health and safety, in contract of service there is
high standard of care owed by employer both
under statutory and common law with regard to
the safety and health of employees, because in
contract for service there is minimum standard of
care in relation to health and safety.
Cont..
•Statutory employment rights, in
contract of service there is large number of
individual employment rights conferred on
employees by the statute which generally
arise after the period of service example
leave and severance pay.
•Income tax, in contract of service the tax
is deducted by employer under PAYE system
while under contract for service is not.
Cont..
•Welfare benefits, under contract of service
normally employer has a duty to contribute to the
employees social security fund while in contract for
service individual is responsible in his welfare
benefits as he wishes.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
These are the rights and protection
contained in 8 core ILO conventions, which
Tanzania has ratified. These rights has been
consolidated and placed under part II of the
ELRA.
•prohibition of child labour (Section 5 of
ELRA)
Cont..
•forced labour, Section 6 of ELRA
exceptions, providing compulsory labour
under the National Defence Act, 1966 for
work of a military character., any work
which form under normal civil obligation of
citizen, any work excited during an
emergence and any work excited by a person
convicted by the court of law.
Cont..
•Prohibition of Discrimination, section 7 of
ELRA
•But Section 7(6) of ELRA allow
discrimination based on affirmative action,
inherent job requirement and employment
under National Employment Promotion
Service Act of 1999 for example no foreigner
is allowed to work in public service office.
•Freedom of association, section 9, 10 and
11 of ELRA.
Employment standards
Hours of work (Section 19 of the ELRA)
The ordinary days of work are set at six days in a
week. Further, the ordinary hours of work are set
at 45 hours in a week, and 9 hours in a work day,
inclusive of a 1 hour meal break per work day.
NB: overtime hours ceiling of 12 working hours
per day inclusive of ordinary and overtime
working hours.
wage & remuneration (Section 27 of the ELRA)
leave & kinds of leave (Section 29-34 of the
ELRA)
Kinds of leave
a). Annual leave of not less than 28
consecutive days during one leave cycle. One
leave cycle is constituted by a period of 12
months’ consecutive employment.
b).Sick leave for at least 126 days during one
leave cycle. full wages during the first 63 days
of the sick leave. For the second 63 days, the
ailing employee is entitled to half wages. An
employer is not obliged to pay an employee
wages during sick leave if the employee does
not produce a medical certificate issued by a
medical practitioner.
Cont..
c). maternity leave of not less than 84
days during one leave cycle. The maternity
leave period would be 100 days if the
employee gave birth to more than one
child. Most curiously, the employee is
entitled to an additional 84 days’ paid
maternity leave within the same leave
cycle if the child dies within a year of birth.
ceiling of 4 maternity leave terms
Cont..
d) Paternity leave, male employee is entitled to
3 days of paid paternity leave
e) Compassionate leave, An employee is
entitled to 4 days’ paid leave in the event of
death or sickness of the employee’s child,
spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild or
sibling, the employee is nevertheless entitled to
4 days’ paid leave
termination
Severance pay
Transport to place of recruitment
Termination of employment
• Fair termination and unfair termination
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Labour dispute resolution is the process of
settling disputes that arises between
employer and employees. This process
involves a number of procedures including

• Mediation
• Arbitration
• Mediation and Arbitration
• Adjudication
THANKS