Tanzania’s Parliament has passed the Social Security Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, introducing significant changes to key legislation governing the country’s social security system, including the National Social Security Fund Act, the Public Service Social Security Fund Act, and the Workers Compensation Act.
Among the key amendments to the National Social Security Fund Act are measures to enforce compliance. These include obligations for employers to maintain up-to-date registers, records, and other employee-related information. Employers are also now required to display their certificate of registration in a conspicuous place at their business premises.
The new legislation provides mechanisms for enforcing compliance, empowering the Director of Public Prosecutions or an officer of the Fund appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions to initiate criminal proceedings under the Act. It also criminalizes the failure, neglect, or refusal of an employer to register as a contributing employer, as well as any willful obstruction of an inspector.
Additionally, the amendments introduce provisions allowing self-employed individuals to contribute to the Fund as employed members. Employees can also consent to have contributions from multiple employers remitted to the Fund.
To further protect employees, the amendments stipulate that unremitted contributions will be treated as if they were remitted. If the Director General is satisfied that an employee’s contributions have been deducted from their wages but not remitted by the employer, the unremitted contributions will be considered fully remitted for the purposes of claiming benefits. This is without prejudice to any action to recover the amount due from the employer.
The amendments also allow for contributions made by members after retirement age, up to seventy years, to be included in the calculation of pension benefits. Additionally, members who have not yet reached retirement age can now use part of their benefits as collateral for a home mortgage.
Speaking on the amendment, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Youth, Employment & Persons with Disability), Ridhiwani Kikwete, acknowledged that the government would consider new inputs from Members of Parliament during the bill’s discussion, including proposals for members to earn from the Fund’s income-generating activities.
Parliament Speaker Tulia Ackson said the amendments will address some of the longstanding complaints regarding social security in the country, particularly issues faced by individuals reaching retirement age who encounter cases of non-remittance by their employers.
“With the passing of this bill, it will address some of the issues even if the implementation is awaiting the approval of the President. This includes our pension funds starting to pay retirees without having to wait to see if the employer has remitted or not,” said Tulia
She added: “This issue has been persistent here, where employees were required to settle remittance so that the fund could pay their pension. Now that this has been settled by law, our committee will try to assess whether the matter still exists or has been resolved after reaching these steps that the government has achieved.”
