Tanzania MPs back maternity leave extension for employees with premature babies

DODOMA: EMPLOYEES who give birth to premature babies may now heave a sigh of relief after Parliament extended the period of maternity leave for them.

The extension of the maternity leave period was granted yesterday after the legislators passed the Bill that amended three laws.

The Labour Laws (Amend ments) No.13) Bill, 2024 that was tabled by Minister for Minerals Anthony Mavunde, on behalf of Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Youth, Labour and People with Disabilities) Ridhiwani Kikwete, carried out amendments to the Employment and Labour Relations Act, Chapter 366, the Labour Institutions Act, Chapter 300 and the Non-Citizens (Employment Regulation) Act, Chapter 436.

According to the amendments carried out yesterday, Section 33 of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, Cap. 366 was amended to increase the period of maternity leave for an employee who gives birth to a premature child by including in the maternity leave the remaining time up to completion of thirty-six weeks of pregnancy.

After the amendment carried out, the section now reads: “An employee who gives birth to a premature child is entitled to a paid maternity leave from the date of giving birth up to completion of the thirty-six weeks of pregnancy and to maternity leave period provided under subsection (6) within the leave cycle.”

However, Minister Ma vunde said after consultation with stakeholders, the time of completion of pregnancy was agreed to be pegged at 40 weeks, instead of thirty-six, the changes that were also endorsed yesterday by the Parliament.

The objective of the amendments is to protect the well-being and health of prematurely born children by ensuring sufficient time for ma ternal care. Parliament also passed the proposal into the Bill that want ed fathers to be granted a seven-day paternity leave from the previous three days.

Under the amendments carried out, Section 34A was added into the Act to enable an employer to grant an employee unpaid leave not exceeding thirty days. The objective of the amendments is to provide conducive environment for employees to take unpaid leave in case of disasters or emergencies.

Bunge also amended Section 9 of the legislation to broaden the definition of the term “senior management employee.”

According to the minister, the objective of the amend ments is to expand the scope of the definition of a senior man agement employee’s position in the exercise of the right to join trade unions. Section 14 was also amended in order to specify the types of fixed-term contracts.

The objective of these amendments is to widen the scope of circumstances under which a person may be employed under a fixed term contract, including contracts for temporary increase in the volume of work, opportunities for recent graduates to build capacity and contracts for sea sonal work.

Section 16A was added to the Act to specify the circumstances under which an employer and employee may enter into agreements on the best ways to operate during an emergency that is likely to affect production at the workplace.

The objective of the amendments is to ensure job security and safety of workers at the workplace, maintain productivity and mitigate the impact on employers during epidemics or emergencies.

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Furthermore, Section 37 has been amended to prevent an employer from initiating or continuing with disciplinary proceedings against an employ ee where a dispute is before the Commission or Labour Court.

The objective of these amendments is to prevent interference with the handling of disputes presented to the Commission or Labour Court.

Furthermore, Section 40 has also been amended to specify compensation based on the type of dispute and to set a maximum limit on the compensation awarded to an employee unfairly terminated. The objective of these amendments is to guide compensation awards and control excessive compensation in cases of unfair termination.

Section 73 has been amended as well in order to al low trade unions to jointly enter into collective agreements with employers or employer organisations to establish employee participation forum at the workplace.

The objective of these amendments is to increase employee participation in matters concerning their interests and improve relations at the workplace.

Section 86 is proposed to be amended in order to require the presence of both parties during mediation and to prevent the employer from being represented by a personal representative. The objective of these amendments is to facilitate dispute resolution at the mediation stage.