Labour law - Private sector in Uganda

THERE are labour laws meant to provide a win-win situation for both parties at the work place. However, they are unknown to many Ugandan employers and employees.


According to information from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, several laws enacted by parliament clearly spell out the obligations of the employer and the employee at the work place.


Major laws include the Workers Compensation Act 2000, the Minimum Wages Act 2000, the Employment Act 2006, the Labour Union Arbitration and Settlement Act 2006 and the Occupational Safety Act 2006.


Under the Employment Act 2006, the conditions of employment in Uganda are stated. The aspects of employment covered here are contract of service, termination of contract, termination notices, protection of wages, hours of work, rest and holidays, employment of women, employment of children and care of employees.


Sections 29 and 37 under which protection of wages falls, gives workers a right to their pay which may be a salary or wage, failure of which can result into the termination of a recruitment permit for an employer who does not pay.


“Wages should be paid promptly and in any case not later than the third of the following month. Wages should be paid in local currency and unauthorized deductions cannot be made from the employee's wages.


“The authorized deductions include contributions to the National Social Security Fund. However such deductions must be paid promptly by the employer to the appropriate authority,” it is further stated.


Section 38 under which hours of work, rest and holidays fall, sets out an eight-hour working day and any overtime worked must be paid at one and a half times the normal rate of pay.


It is further stated that, an employee whose hours of work exceed six a day, is entitled to at least an hour's break or more so that he or she does not work continuously for more than five hours.


An employer is required to give his or her employee holidays with full pay at the rate of at least one and a half working days for every month of actual service.
“The law does not allow any agreement to forego holidays.”



Actual service is deemed to include days of weekly rest, public holidays and days of absence from work due to sickness not exceeding 30 days per year,”the law further states.


As for public holidays, it is stated, employees are entitled to resting on all public holidays as gazetted under the Public Holidays Act otherwise, “the employer is obliged to pay an employee who works on a public holiday double the normal rate or grant them a day off later with normal pay”.


Employers who frequently fire workers at their will, are warned that it is a violation of the law. The right procedure to be followed according to the Ministry of Labour, is to give a one week notice for service that has lasted for less than a year, 15 days notice for service that has lasted a year but is less than three years and one months notice for service that has lasted three years but is less than five years.



Two months notice should be given for service that has lasted at least five years but is less than ten years and three months notice if the service has lasted 10 years.


Under the Workers Compensation Act 2000, it is stated that an employee is entitled to compensation for any personal injury from an accident arising out and in course of his employment even if the injury resulted from the employee's negligence.


“Under this Act, compensation is automatic. The compensation is to be paid by the employer whether the worker was injured as a result of his own mistake or not,” it is stated.


For an injury that leads to death, the compensation should be equivalent to an employers monthly pay multiplied by 60 months.


In case an employee fails to resolve a dispute with their employer, they can contact the Directorate of Labour in the Ministry of Gender from where the matter can be further resolved.


The Ministry resorts to its last method of referring the matter to the Industrial Court if all other methods including its intervention fail to resolve employer and employee dispute.

Hi Sebastian, your thread has been moved to Uganda forum for better visibility.

Harmonie.

Thank You Wilson for your reply.

anyone  can tell how is compensation calculation in Uganda -as per labour law
If anyone resigned according their period service with the employeer. what is the calculation for the resignation and termination

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