Vedestus S. Ntulanyenka and 6 Others vs. Mohamed Trans Ltd; Revision No. 4 of 2014: High Court of Tanzania (Labour Division) at Shinyanga (Unreported).
- Labour Law
- Termination: Substantive fairness for termination: Whether gross dishonesty and gross insubordination constitute fair and valid reason for termination.
- Misconduct: When misconduct constitutes a fair reason for termination.
- Standards/Rules: What are the sources of standards/rules regulating conducts of employees?
- Misconduct: Serious misconducts that may warrant termination out rightly
- Termination- Effect of termination that is substantively fair but procedurally unfair
- Severance pay -When payable?
- Repatriation: Repatriation to the place of recruitment must be proved
Held:-
(i) Acts of an employee of disobeying a lawful order of the employer constitutes gross insubordination.
(ii) Standards or rules regulating conduct relating to employment may be included in the employee’s written contract of employment, in the policy or personnel manual or in notices placed on the notice boards in the work place, common law sources, legislations and unilateral decision of the employer.
(iii) An employee who fails to act in good faith towards the employer is in violation of common law duty.
(iv) Gross dishonest, wilful damage to property, wilful endangering of safety of others, physical assault and gross insubordination are serious misconducts which may warrant termination of employment for a first occurrence.
(v) For termination to be procedurally fair, an employer must comply with Rule 13 of the Code of Good Practice Rules G.N. 42 of 2007
(vi) Arbitrator is mandated not to order reinstatement “where termination is unfair because the employer did not follow a fair procedure.”
(vii) Section 40(1)(c) of ELRA does not mandate the arbitrator to order compensation of 12 months pay in all cases of unfair termination.
(viii) An employee is not entitled to severance pay where he is terminated of misconduct.
(ix) An employee is not entitled to repatriation costs unless he can prove that he was recruited at a different place other than the place of employment.