Introduction
Welcome to our forum today as we share the diverse knowledge relating to the labour laws and practice. One of important issue to be settled in the outset of conducting business or any service is to understand your position in relation to the people you are working with. Therefore, today we are going to answer this question as regard to who is an employer?
Definition of Employer
The Employment and Labour Relations Act, Cap.366, (ELRA) under Section 4 defines who is an employer as I quote;-
‘employer’ means any person, including the Government and an executive agency, who employs an employee.
Therefore simply as defined under the Act, employer means any person who employs an employee.
This definition seems not to be clear unless we have a view of who is an employee. The term employee is also defined under Section 4 of the ELRA
‘Employee’ means an individual who-
- Has entered into a contract of employment; or
- Has entered into any other contract under which-
- the individual undertakes to work personally for the other party to the contract; and
- the other party is not a client or customer of any profession, business, or undertaking carried on by the individual;
- is deemed to be an employee by the Minister under Section 98(3)
Therefore, upon the definition of who is employee, we are able to understand the meaning of who is an employer.
Employer therefore can be defined as
- a person who has entered into a contract of employment with an individual
- a person who has entered into a contract with an individual who works personally to a person (employer)
Therefore, it is important for a person to understand what amount to be an employer. It is not necessary to be working as an organization but natural persons can be employers also in the labour law context.
Understand your status as employer and then pursue your rights as the employer while honouring your duties towards the employees.
Yours,
Isaack Zake, Esq.
Director of Legal and Public Relations – TAACIME
Isaack Zake an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, he is passionate in pursuing matters in relation to labour and Human Resource Management and has been labour lawyer practitioner at various areas of practice such as FIBUCA Trade Union, Commission for Mediation and Arbitration, Labour Court of Tanzania and Labour Office at the Ministry of the Labour Affairs. Mr. Isaack is also a founder of www.ulizasheria.co.tz
For more information, questions and suggestions please contact0713 888 040 with email info@taacime.co.tz