Introduction of a New Wage Order in Tanzania

The Ministry of State, Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability) enacted the Labour Institutions (Minimum Wage for Private Sector) Order, Government Notice No. 605A of 2025 (the New Wage Order).

The New Wage Order came into force on the 1st of January 2026 and revokes the Labour Institutions Wage Order Government Notice No. 687 of 2022 (the 2022 Wage Order). The New Wage Order will apply to all employers and employees working in the private sector and amends the minimum wage rates applicable across various sectors and sub-sectors as detailed in the table below.

New definitions

The New Wage Order added the following definitions, which were not defined in the 2022 Wage Order, including:

“Domestic work” means work performed in or for a household under [an] employment relationship or employment agreement; 

“Energy” includes all processes relating to the production or supply of energy from any source; and 

“Mining operations” has the meaning ascribed to it under the Mining Act [Cap 124 R.E. 2023] (as amended), but shall not include processes related to the production of salt or limestone.

Additional sectors covered under the New Wage Order

The New Wage Order has also introduced additional sectors to which it will apply, including the sports, arts, entertainment, and gaming sector, as well as the waste collection, processing, and disposal sector. Other sectors, such as agriculture, health, trade and finance, communication, and energy, have been expanded to cover various areas within their respective sectors. 

As in the 2022 Wage Order, the New Wage Order will allow employers to pay employees’ wages above the prescribed minimum wages. Also, employers currently paying their employees’ wages below the prescribed wages are required to adjust such wages to comply with the New Wage Order. It is important to note that employers paying higher wages and providing more favourable terms and conditions of employment than those prescribed will be required to continue to pay such higher wages and favourable terms and conditions of employment after the commencement of the New Wage Order.

In addition, the New Wage Order will not alter other terms of existing employment contracts. Accordingly, the employees will continue to be entitled to any other allowance agreed in their employment contracts. 

Furthermore, employees will begin to be entitled, in addition to annual paid leave, to a leave travel allowance once every two (2) years of continuous service with the same employer. Further, employees will begin to be entitled to a subsistence allowance when required by their employers to work outside their workstation in accordance with their respective employment agreements.

Moreover, the New Wage Order maintains the allowance requirement for truck drivers as set out in the 2022 Wage Order. Truck drivers will still be entitled to an allowance to cover mileage, longer stay outside the workstation, and loading and unloading of cargo, according to negotiations entered into between drivers and employers. 

Lastly, employers who are in other sectors not provided for in the sectoral minimum wage board will be required to pay their employees a minimum monthly wage of TZS 175,000, an increase from TZS 150,000 prescribed by the 2022 Wage Order.