Zanzibar lifts private sector minimum wage by about 30% from January

Zanzibar lifts private sector minimum wage by about 30% from January

31 October 2026: Zanzibar will raise its main private sector minimum wage from Sh347,000 to Sh450,000 a month on 1 January 2027, about 30 percent, and has told employers that every worker must have a written employment contract before then. Ali Suleiman Ameir, the Minister for Labour, Employment, Youth and Empowerment, announced the change on 31 October.

Not yet independently verified. This rests on one press report in The Citizen, which quotes the minister. We could not find a gazette notice or ministry page, or any statement of the penalty for missing a contract. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The new rates, band by band

The order sets different floors by type of employer and work:

• Workers on written contracts: Sh347,000 to Sh450,000 a month
• Small institutions: Sh250,000 to Sh300,000 a month, about 20 percent
• Skilled daily workers: Sh30,000 to Sh35,000 a day
• Unskilled daily workers: Sh25,000 to Sh30,000 a day
• Live-in domestic workers: Sh100,000 to Sh110,000 a month
• Live-out domestic workers: Sh120,000 to Sh130,000 a month
• Foreign workers: $1,000 to $1,500

The rate for public servants had already moved, from Sh300,000 to Sh500,000 from October 2026, so the private floor still sits below the government one. The foreign worker figure is the largest move in percentage terms among those stated, at half as much again, and companies with expatriate staff on the islands should check each contract against it.

A contract deadline that comes first

The pay rise gets the headlines, but the earlier date is the contracts. "I direct you to ensure every worker has an employment contract by December this year," Ameir told employers, ahead of the new rates arriving in January.

That sequence makes sense given how the bands work. The top monthly rate applies to workers with written contracts, so an employer who has relied on informal arrangements cannot work out which band applies to whom until the paperwork exists. An employer with seasonal or day-rate staff is likely to have the most to do.

What payroll teams need to change by January

"We are giving employers three months to prepare by adjusting their budgets, payroll systems and employment contracts," the minister said. Salama Mbarouk Khatib, the ministry's Permanent Secretary, and Rashid Khamis Othman, the Labour Commissioner, were also named in the report.

Groups that run payroll across mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar should note this applies to Zanzibar's own order, so a single national minimum table in a payroll system will not be enough. Rates need to be set by location and worker type from the first January run, and day-rate workers need their own tables. Budgets for 2027 that assumed the old floor need revising too. Our payroll software category lists thirteen products.

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• UK sets six-month unfair dismissal rule for 1 January in Act timetable
• Singapore brings retirement age 65 and re-employment 70 forward to 2029

Sources

• The Citizen (Jesse Mikofu): Zanzibar raises private sector minimum wage, orders contracts for all workers, 31 October 2026, 31 October 2026