Q&A – 24 August 2015
Wedding dress tears
I got married to my long-time boyfriend in a lavish high end wedding. My flower girls presented me with flowers which I dropped. Not having gotten married before, and not knowing much about how to behave as a bride, I bent down to pick the flowers and my dress tore from the backside. It was the most embarrassing experience and my husband had to use various techniques so that the dress would not disintegrate when we were taking our vows. My dressmaker is refusing to admit any liability saying that I should not have bent and that wedding dresses are cosmetic dresses that must be delicately worn. Can I sue?
TE, Dar
Wedding dresses tearing apart, and wardrobe malfunctions are not uncommon.
Your dressmaker ought to have known that the dress has a special purpose. We do not think it is merely a cosmetic dress but rather carries a high sentimental value and thus dismiss what the dressmaker stated to you.
Not allowing to bend when wearing a wedding dress is not something that the dressmaker informed you about.
It is also unusual for a dress to tear like this when one bends.
As for whether or not you can sue, we believe you can, and not only for the value of the dress but also for moral injury, loss of reputation and perhaps even defamation. Your dressmaker has breached the contract you entered into for the supply of a proper quality dress and you thus have a cause of action and can sue.
No lunch break in bank
I work for a bank in Dar and my MD says I should have my lunch whilst sitting on my cash counter so that I can continue working. Is this legal as I am not really taking a break?
MK, Dar
The Employment and Labour Relations
Act clearly states in section 21 that (1) an employer shall give an employee who works continuously for more than five hours a break of at least 60 minutes.
(2) An employer may require an employee to work during a break only if the work cannot be left unattended or cannot be performed by another employee.
(3) An employer shall not be obliged to pay an employee for the period of a break unless the employee is required to work, or to be available for work, during the break.
From our reading of the above, you can occasionally work during your lunch break and only if the work cannot be left unattended or performed by another staff.
This, however, cannot be every day.
The law also states that for such time you put in you should get paid.
TRA refuses massage expense
I regularly go for massage to increase my performance at work. My job entails me to concentrate for long hours and without a proper rub I cannot work at full efficiency. TRA have disallowed this weekly expense that I genuinely incur. TRA is unfair to me. What should I do?
BB, Dar
Section 11 of the Income Tax Act provides for what you can deduct as an expense and states that (1) For the purposes of calculating a person’s income no deduction shall be allowed – (a) for consumption expenditure incurred by the person or excluded expenditure incurred by the person; or (b) otherwise, except as provided for by this Act.
(2) Subject to this Act, for the purposes of calculating a person’s income for a year of income from any business or investment, there shall be deducted all expenditure incurred during the year of income, by the person wholly and exclusively in the production of income from the business or investment.
The test is that TRA will only allow an expense that is wholly and exclusively incurred in income production. In your case we are unsure what kind of massage you go for, nor have you disclosed what profession you are in that entails you going for this weekly massage.
If it is a pleasure massage, you certainly cannot deduct this expense. If it is a prescribed medical massage, and one that is critical for you in your job, then perhaps TRA can consider this as being wholly and exclusively incurred for production of income, although we very much doubt that TRA will entertain this.
If you are dissatisfied with this disallowance of massage as an expense, you can file objection proceedings before the TRA, and if TRA do not budge and issue you with the final assessment, then you can appeal to the Tax Revenue Appeals Board.
We must pre warn you that the TRA have a right, as do you, to call your masseuse therapist for cross examination so bear that in mind. Hopefully the masseuse is tax registered, and if not, you both may face further scrutiny. Lastly we do not believe that TRA has been unfair to you.
Wife refuses to sleep with me
My wife has decided that for a period of six months, until my daughter passes exams, she will not enter into any sexual relations with me. She claims that she has been inspired by a message from the divine that if we do engage in sex, our daughter’s exam results will suffer and therefore abstinence was the way forward. This is causing me sleepless night and anxiety. Can I sue my wife to cooperate?
RL, Dar
We do not see any correlation between abstinence and your daughter’s results.
As for the revelation from the divine, we are unfortunately not able to comment as this is something beyond our scope.
We are not sure what you want to sue your wife for. Suing her for specific performance meaning that she be forced to sleep with you, is something a Court will unlikely grant.
One cannot be forced to have sex with another, even if it is a partner, as it would be against public policy and enforcing such an order might be a breach of privacy.
We recommend you meet a marriage counselor who can provide some expert guidance.