How to take a labour complaint to the CMA in Tanzania

What the CMA does

The Commission for Mediation and Arbitration was set up under the Labour Institutions Act, 2004. It resolves labour disputes in two main ways. Mediation is a confidential meeting in which a mediator helps both sides reach an agreement. Arbitration is a hearing in which an arbitrator listens to the evidence from both sides and makes a binding decision, called an award.

The CMA explains that every dispute must go through mediation before it can move to arbitration, the Labour Court, a strike or a lockout. It also explains the two kinds of dispute. A dispute of right is about a breach of a legal right, a collective agreement or your individual employment contract. A dispute of interest is about new terms that are not yet a right, and usually arises when collective bargaining fails. Most individual complaints, such as unfair termination or unpaid wages, are disputes of right.

Before you file: talk, write and collect

Many problems can be fixed without a dispute. Raise the issue with your supervisor or human resources office in writing, and keep a copy. If your workplace has a grievance procedure or a trade union, use it. A written complaint and the employer's reply often become your most useful evidence.

While you do that, collect your documents:

• your contract or appointment letter and any written particulars;
• payslips, bank statements or mobile money records showing what you were paid;
• the termination letter, notice or warning letters;
• messages and emails about the problem;
• names of colleagues who saw what happened.

Do not let this step use up your time limit. If the employer does not respond quickly, file with the CMA anyway.

The time limits

The CMA's own guidance sets two deadlines:

• Unfair termination: bring the dispute to the Commission within 30 days of being terminated.
• Any other labour dispute, such as unpaid wages, leave or overtime: bring it within 60 days of the dispute arising.

If you miss the deadline, you can still ask to be heard out of time. You do this by filling in form CMA F.2, together with a notice of application and a sworn affidavit explaining the delay. The Commission decides whether to allow it, so do not rely on this. Count the days from the date in your termination letter, or the date the dispute arose, and file early.

Step 1: fill in form CMA F.1

You open a dispute by filling in the referral form, CMA F.1. Section 86 of the Employment and Labour Relations Act says disputes referred to the Commission must be in the prescribed form. Describe the dispute clearly: who your employer is, your job, the dates, what happened and what you are asking for, such as reinstatement, compensation or a specific amount of unpaid pay. Ask your nearest CMA office for the form and for help completing it.

Step 2: serve the form on your employer

The completed form must be delivered to the other side before you file. The CMA lists three ways to do this:

• hand a copy of the form to the other side;
• send it by fax;
• send a copy by registered post.

When you file at the Commission, you must attach proof that you served the form on the other side. Section 86 also says the person referring the dispute must satisfy the Commission that a copy has been served. Keep the receipt, the signed acknowledgement or the postal slip.

Step 3: mediation

Once the referral is received, the Commission appoints a mediator and sets the time, date and place of the mediation hearing. Under section 86, the mediator must try to resolve the dispute within thirty days of the referral, or a longer period both sides agree in writing.

Attend every hearing. Since the 2025 amendments, the parties must be present at mediation, and a party who cannot attend for an unavoidable reason may appoint someone in writing to appear instead. If the person who referred the complaint fails to attend, the complaint can be dismissed, although the Commission can restore it on a proper application. If the other side fails to attend, the 2025 amendments say the mediator marks the dispute as failed, so it can move on to the next stage.

An agreement reached at mediation binds both sides and, according to the CMA, can be enforced as an award at the Labour Court. Read any agreement carefully before you sign it, and check that the amounts and payment dates are written down.

Step 4: arbitration

If mediation fails, the dispute of right can go to arbitration or, for some disputes, to the Labour Court. The 2025 amendments added that the move to arbitration should be made within thirty days of the date mediation failed. Ask the CMA office how to proceed on the day mediation ends.

At arbitration, each side gives evidence, can call and question witnesses and present arguments. You can be represented by an official of your trade union, an advocate or, according to the CMA, a personal representative. The arbitrator must issue a written award with reasons within thirty days after the arbitration proceedings end. The award binds both sides and can be enforced through the Labour Court like a court decree.

If you disagree with the award

There is no appeal against an arbitration award in the usual sense. A party who believes there was a defect in the proceedings can apply to the Labour Court to set the award aside. Under section 91, this must be done within six weeks of the date the award was served, or within six weeks of discovering that the award was improperly procured. The Labour Court can set an award aside for misconduct by the arbitrator or improper procurement. Get legal advice before this step.

What you can win

For unfair termination, an arbitrator or the Labour Court can order reinstatement, re-engagement or compensation. Since 2025 the compensation ranges are 6 to 12 months' pay for an unfair procedure, 12 to 18 months for an unfair reason, 12 to 20 months when both are unfair, and 12 to 24 months for discrimination or harassment. For unpaid amounts, the award can order the employer to pay what is owed. Read about notice and severance.