Implications of the New Labour Laws in Tanzania: Case of the Dar es salaam Regional Labour Department
A Dissertation Submitted to Mzumbe University-Dar es Salaam Campus College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) of Mzumbe University
2013
This study was conducted to examine the implications of the New Labour Laws in Tanzania. The case study area was the Dar es Salaam Regional Labour Office.
After repeal of the old labour laws and enactment of the Employment and Labour Relations Act 2004 and the Labour Institutions Act 2004, the question that arose was what had been the implications of the new labour laws in the handling of labour relations, differently from the old labour laws. The objectives of the study were, to find out the mechanisms that are used in mainstreaming the new labour laws, examine the factors affecting the implementation of these laws,identify challenges and implications that are faced in effective implementation and recommend strategies that can sustain the implementation of labour laws in organizations.The study population included employment entities in Dar es Salaam region. The study intended to survey five private production entities and five public service entities. The stratified sampling method was used to identify 18 employers’ representatives, 29 labour officers and 33 trade union leaders.The study found out that ineffectiveness in the implementation of the new labour laws was a result of inherent factors such as, low awareness of the requirements of the new labour laws, inadequate training in labor laws and problems relating to comprehending the legal language of the laws. The study points out the extent to which the ineffectiveness had implications in rendering the desired justice such as gender imbalance, unsecure tenure of employment and deviance from provisions of statutory rights.The study points out policy implications and recommendations to the government and dispute settlement machinery. Also parties in the labour setting i.e. employers, trade union leaders and labour administrators need to work as a team to improve the effectiveness of these laws. It is acknowledged that, this study could not cover the entire spectrum of the effectiveness of the new labour laws and hence its implications due to limited time and resources, few studies made on the subject and hence recommends that more studies be conducted on the subject