Employee denied paid sick leave

I was employed about four months ago and two months after my employment, I fell sick and was admitted to the hospital for six weeks. I notified the HR Manager that I was admitted and he came to the hospital to see me. After I was discharged from the hospital, I went back to the office to demand from the Company Chief Accountant payment of the salary which was not paid when I was sick. The accountant told me before he pays me my salary, I should first get clearance from the HR Manager. I approached the HR Manager who claimed that I am not entitled to a paid salary during my sick leave because I have worked for the Company for less than six months. Is it a legal position that an employee with less than six months of service is disentitled to a sick leave? This is very unfair as when one will fall sick is not within one’s control.
FP, Morogoro

Your HR Manager is correct. As per section 29 of the Employment and Labour Relations Act [Cap.366 R.E 2019], an employee with less than six months of service with the employer is not entitled to any paid statutory leaves, be it sick leave, paternity leave, compassionate leave, maternity leave or annual leave. Any leave taken by an employee whose length of service for the employer is less than six months should be unpaid leave unless the employer decides to pay the employee during leave period at his sole discretion.

The only employees who are entitled to sick leave or other statutory leaves despite working for the employer for less than six months are the employees employed on a seasonal basis and the employees who have worked more than once in a year for the same employer if the total period worked for that employer exceeds six months in a year. This might not be what you expected from the FB Attorneys QnA team but this is what the law states.

Notice to sue a village

Last year when I went back to my home village for Christmas Holiday, I applied for allocation of a farm from the Village Council which I was allocated. Now I am back only to discover that the Village Council has allocated the same land to another person on the grounds that I have failed to develop the farm for twelve months since it was allocated to me in December last year. I intend to sue the Village Council but am unsure if suing a village council also requires giving a prior notice of intention to sue like suing the Government. Can you confirm if the institution of a suit against a Village Council should be preceded by a notice of intention to sue. Also guide me on the Court with competent jurisdiction to decide a suit against a village council? The land in dispute is worth TZS 10M
LK, Dar es Salaam

By virtue of section 26 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act [Cap.287 R.E 2002] a village council is a body corporate capable of suing or being sued. However, section 190 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act as amended by Act No.1 of 2020 imposes a condition that before filing a suit against a local government authority the claimant has to give to the local government authority a 90 days’ notice of intention to sue and a copy of that notice should be served on the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. Section 3 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act defines a local government authority as a district authority and urban authority and it also defines a district authority to include a village council. Therefore, a village council is a district authority hence it is a local government authority. By being a local government authority, a suit against a village council should be preceded by a notice of intention to sue which should be served upon the Village Executive Officer on behalf of the village council and a copy of it served upon the Attorney General, the Solicitor General and the District Executive Director. Upon expiry of the notice, a suit can be brought against a village council and the Attorney General is made a necessary party to the suit as a co-defendant.

Once the Attorney General is a party to the suit, such a suit becomes a government suit hence has to be filed in the High Court. Section 6(4) and (7) of the Government Proceedings Act [Cap.5 R.E 2019] as amended by Act No.1 of 2020 gives the High Court exclusive jurisdiction over all the Government suits. It does not matter that the value of the subject matter is less than the pecuniary jurisdiction of the High Court. Once it is a government suit the only Court with competent jurisdiction over such a suit is the High Court. Your lawyer can guide you further.

Eviction of the tenant for failure to pay rent

My tenant has not paid rent for two months now. Can I evict him myself or do I need to get a Court order first before such eviction?
TY, Dodoma.

This is a question we get asked very frequently.

Section 101 of the Land Act [Cap113 R.E 2019] gives the lessor the right to terminate lease agreement with the lessee for failure to pay rent for 30 days. But before terminating the lease agreement the lessor should first give the lessee a notice of default to pay rent. It is only after the expiration of the notice that the tenant can be evicted in case he does not pay rent within 30 days’ of notice. After expiration of the notice the lessor can proceed with the eviction but he can only do so where the eviction can be carried peacefully. If eviction cannot be carried peacefully, the lessor has to seek a Court order and use a Court broker or tribunal broker to evict the lessee from the premises.