Enhancing implementation of labour standards in an effort to promote decent work and productivity benefits for employers and workers in the United Republic of Tanzania

Brief background

Efforts to achieve full, freely chosen and productive employment and to address the widespread problems of youth unemployment, low rates of women’s participation in the labour force and low productivity levels can only be successful if they are accompanied by fundamental guarantees of fairness, social cohesion and social justice, through freedom of association, equality, adequate levels of wages, and a functioning social security system. For this reason, the ILO promotes the integration of international labour standards in national labour laws and public sector reforms. The work entails building capacities in the form of raising awareness, strengthening labour institutions, enacting regulations, and putting in place implementation procedures. An effective way of achieving these results is by ensuring that social dialogue takes place involving key stakeholders such as the government and employers’ and workers’ organisations.

The ILO’s key contribution to good governance is through promotion of social dialogue. Social dialogue is defined by the ILO to include all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. The main goal of social dialogue itself is to promote consensus building and democratic involvement among the main stakeholders in the world of work. Successful social dialogue structures and processes have the potential to resolve important economic and social issues, encourage good governance, advance social and industrial peace and stability and boost economic progress.

Under the UNDAP, the ILO’s work contributes in supporting the government achieve its human rights commitments, including rights of workers. In this respect, the ILO supports in improving labour law compliance in Tanzania. Among the key support provided is increasing the country’s capacity to ratify the ILO’s fundamental human rights Conventions.

Main activities/Implementation strategy

As the international labour standards setter, the ILO’s support to Tanzania builds upon the milestones reached to date that include the enactment of the Employment and Labour Relations Act 2004 and the Labour Institutions Act 2004 for Mainland Tanzania, and the Employment Act 2005 and the Labour Relations Act 2005 for Zanzibar. There are challenges that this project aims to address. On one hand, there are still a number of laws that need to be reviewed to reflect international standards, and on the other hand, regulations that support the implementation of the developed and/or reviewed labour laws are yet to be developed, making compliance an impossible task. The support will not only focus on the labour laws prioritized for review but also develop prioritized regulations and making sure action is taken to implement the comments of the Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR).

The ILO will enhance the labour law by supporting: an increased public awareness and knowledge of labour laws; enhanced capacity of labour institutions to implement labour laws; and a strengthened framework for labour law compliance through tripartite dialogue. To achieve these, the ILO will work in collaboration with its constituents – governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations. In Mainland Tanzania, the ILO’s tripartite partners are the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) and Trade Unions Congress of Tanzania. In Zanzibar, tripartite partners include the Ministry of Labour, Economic Empowerment and Cooperatives (MLEEC), Zanzibar Employers Association (ZANEMA) and Zanzibar Trade Unions Congress (ZATUC). The office will also collaborate closely with the East African Community (EAC).

Implementation

The following are expected to be implemented:

• Labour laws and regulations translated into Kiswahili and awareness raising tools published and disseminated.
• A public awareness campaign launched and implemented.
• Labour law training programmes for practitioners developed and implemented.
• Public awareness monitoring tools designed and implemented.
• Labour officers trained and tools developed to conduct inspection and enforce the law.
• Tools, guidelines and management information systems for Ministries of labour developed.
• Operationalize the Dispute Handling Unit (DHU) in Zanzibar and increase capacity to resolve labour disputes, raise awareness and disseminate jurisprudence.
• Information systems including case management/database and workplace registries in labour institutions in place.
• Selected labour laws reviewed and amendments drafted to reconcile conflicts and/or gaps with national and international instruments.
• Regulations and rules for implementation of the Employment and Labour Relations Act 2004 and Labour institutions Act 2004 in Mainland Tanzania and the Employment Act 2005 and Labour Relations Act 2005 in Zanzibar developed and implemented.
• Harmonization of the treaty regime for Mainland and Zanzibar.
• Tripartite social partners’ skills in social dialogue enhanced.
• Thematic reports generated by social dialogue bodies.
• Increased number of women and youth appointed to represent constituents in social dialogue institutions.
• Capacities of women and youth to engage in social dialogue increased.

Outcomes/Expected Deliverables

1. An increased awareness of applicable labour laws and the services provided by the relevant labour institutions.
2. An enhanced capacity of labour institutions to provide services and to enforce compliance with the labour laws.
3. A strengthened tripartite dialogue among the governments, employers and workers through a forum for parties to engage on key policy matters and adherence to international standards.
4. Strengthened social dialogue institutions and forums.
5. Increased participation of women and youth in social dialogue institutions.