Tanzanian labour law recognizes redundancy as a legitimate reason for termination, but a legitimate business reason does not protect an employer if the procedure followed to implement it was defective. In matters we have handled before the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration, the dispute frequently turns on process rather than on whether the redundancy itself was justified.

The Employment and Labour Relations Act requires consultation with affected employees or their representatives, a fair and objective selection criteria, and consideration of alternatives to termination before redundancy is implemented. Employers who treat these as formalities to complete after the decision has already been made tend to fare poorly when the matter is challenged.

Selection criteria in particular need to be applied consistently and documented at the time, not reconstructed afterward to justify a decision. We advise clients to build the documentation trail for redundancy decisions as the process unfolds, since a well-run process is the strongest defense if the decision is later disputed.