About 38 per cent of workers don’t have employment contracts: report

Dar es Salaam. Thirty eight percent of employees do not have employment contracts in Mainland Tanzania, a newly launched Human Rights and Business Report 2016 shows.

Report by Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) shows that while 61.6 percent of employees have written contracts, 38.4 percent have oral contracts.

Presenting report findings today August 30, LHRC researcher at the human rights and business unit, Mr Patience Mlowe, said report established that majority of employees with written contracts did not negotiate terms of contracts with employers

"The study shows that 60 percent of respondents didn't negotiate terms of contracts with employers, while 40 percent did. Also, most of them were not provided with copies of contracts signed between the two sides," he said.

He said LHRC was of the view that lack of employment contracts does not only deprive rights of individual employees but also deprives the government with necessary revenues.

"It is difficult for government agents or officials from the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to verify the number of employees at a given company in order to ascertain payable tax," he said adding:

"LHRC urges the ministry responsible for labour to ensure that all companies keep proper records of all contracts for every employee for mutual benefits."

The Human Rights and Business Report 2016 highlights issues on labour rights and practices, land rights and corporate investments, corporate compliance and transparency in taxation, corporate social responsibilities, gender related issues in corporate sector and effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory authorities.

This is the fifth report, the first report was released in 2012.