Strengthening the Workers Compensation Fund in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM (ILO News) - Employment injury benefit schemes, providing benefits in cash and in kind in cases of work-related accidents and occupational disease, constitute the oldest branch of social security in many countries.

With support from the ILO, the Government of Tanzania established the Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) in July 2015, providing access to employment injury insurance to 2 million formal sector workers.

The ILO provides guidance on international standards and more practically supports the scheme with management training and IT support.

The ILO has so far trained more than 300 medical practitioners throughout the country, enabling the social security fund to fulfil its role.

According to ILO estimates, worldwide, more than 2.3 million people die from work-related accidents or diseases each year. Employment injuries and work-related diseases cause the deaths of 6,300 workers per day around the world.

Since July 2015, all Tanzanian employers have been required to submit a percentage of employee wages to the Workers' Compensation Fund (WCF).

The WCF was established by the Workers' Compensation Act of 2008 and applied to both public and private employers for the 2015-2016 tax year that began July 1, 2015. These contributions are at the employer’s cost and as such these costs are not deducted from the salaries of employees.

Under the Workers' Compensation Act, private sector employers are required to contribute one percent of each employee's wages on a monthly basis to the WCF while public sector employers must contribute 0.5 percent of wages to the fund.