Labor laws in Uganda.

1.Regulations on Fair Treatment.

(Source; Employment Act 2006 Uganda.,Employment of children regulations 2012,Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2006, Workers Compensation Act 2000,National Social Security Fund Act, 1985)

(i)Discrimination at work. (6)

• Discrimination in employment shall be unlawful and for the purposes of this Act, discrimination includes any distinction,exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, color, sex,religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, the HIV status or disability which has the effect of nullifying or impairing the treatment of a person in employment or occupation, or of preventing an employee from obtaining any benefit under a contract of service.
• Any distinction, exclusion or preference in respect of a particular job based on the inherent requirements of that particular job shall not be deemed to be discrimination.
• It shall be lawful for the Minister, by regulations to limit the range of jobs open to migrant workers.
• Every employer shall pay male and female equal remuneration for work of equal value.
• The Minister and the Labor Advisory Board shall, in performing their duties, seek to give effect to the principle of equal remuneration for male and female employees for work of equal value.
• It shall be the duty of all parties, including the Minister, labor officers and the Industrial Court to seek to promote equality of opportunity, with a view to eliminating any discrimination in employment to promote and guarantee equality of opportunity for persons who, as migrant workers, or as members of their families, are lawfully within the territory of Uganda.

(ii)Sexual Harassment in employment.(7)
An employee shall be sexually harassed in that employee’s employment if that employee’s employer, or a representative of that employer—

• Directly or indirectly makes a request of that employee for sexual intercourse, sexual contact or any other form of sexual activity that contains—
  (a) an implied or express promise of preferential treatment in employment;
  (b) an implied or express threat of detrimental treatment in employment ;
  (c) an implied or express threat about the present or future employment status of the employee;
• Uses language whether written or spoken of a sexual nature;
• Uses visual material of a sexual nature; or
• Shows physical behavior of a sexual nature.

If an employee is sexually harassed in any way by the employer or employer’s representative, the
employee is entitled to lodge a complaint with a labor officer and the labor officer shall have the powers to make all of the orders he or she could have made if the complaint was a complaint about
unjustified disciplinary penalty or unjustified dismissal.

Every employer who employs more than twenty five employees is required to have in place measures to prevent sexual harassment occurring at their work place.Every employer who employs more than twenty five employees is required to have in place measures to prevent sexual harassment occurring at their work place.

(iii) Forced Labor.(5)

• No person shall use or assist any other person, in using forced or compulsory labor.
• The term “forced or compulsory labor “ does not include-
  (a) any work or service extracted by virtue of compulsory military service laws for work of a purely military character;
  (b) any work or service which forms part of the normal civic obligations of the citizens of Uganda;
  (c) any work or service extracted from any person as a consequence of a conviction by a court of law, provided that the work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the person is not hired out to or placed at the disposal of a private individual, company or association;
  (d) any work or service extracted in cases of an emergency, such as in the event of war or disaster or threat of calamity in any circumstance that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population.
• A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding forty eight currency points or to two years imprisonment, or both and to a fine of four
  currency points for each day or part of the day on which the breach continues.

(iv) Child Labor. (3)

• A child under the age of fourteen years shall not be employed in any business undertaking or workplace, except—
  (a)for light work carried out under the supervision of an adult;
  (b)where the work does not exceed fourteen hours per week,
  These activities are considered light work ; sewing, attending of guests, sweeping, cleaning the flow and organizing the house, cleaning and polishing shoes, washing clothes, making purchases in the market or shop, cleaning the toilet and bathroom, helping out in the garden, preparing family meals and collecting firewood.
• A child shall not be employed to do work which is injurious, dangerous, hazardous or in the worst forms of child labor.
• All employers shall display the national list of hazardous work not permitted for employment of a child at their premises as prescribed in the first schedule of the Employment of Children Act 2012.
• A child aged between fifteen and eighteen years who has completed his or her education or does not attend school, may work up to seven hours a day but shall not exceed thirty five hours per week.
• overtime work is prohibited for a child aged between fifteen to seventeen years.
• A child shall not be employed at night between the hours of 7.00.p.m and 7.00 a.m

2. Employee leave and holidays.

Normal Leave.
An employee shall, once in very calendar year, be entitled to a holiday with full pay at the rate of seven days in respect of each period of a continuous four months’ service, to be taken at such time during such calendar year as may be agreed between the parties.

Public Holidays.
An employee shall be entitled to a day’s holiday with full pay on every public holiday during his or her employment or, where he or she works for his or her employer on a public holiday, to a day’s holiday with full pay at the expense of the employer on some other day that would otherwise be a day of work.
Where an employee who works on a public holiday receives, in respect of such work, pay at not less than double the rate payable for work on a day that is not a public holiday, that employee shall not be entitled to a day’s holiday with full pay in lieu of the public holiday. Public holiday will include:

1. New Year’s Day – 01 January
2. NRM Liberation day – 26 January
3. International Women’s day – 08 march
4. Good Friday – (exact day Varies)
5. Easter Monday – (exact day varies)
6. Labor Day – 01 May
7. Martyr’s day -03 June
8. National Heroes’ Day – 09 June
9. Eid al- Fitr (end of Ramadan, exact day varies)
10. Independence Day – 09 October
11. Eid al-Aduha (Feast of the sacrifice, exact day varies)
12. Christmas Day – 25 December
13. Boxing Day – 26 December

Maternity leave.(56)

1. A female employee shall, as a consequence of pregnancy, have the right to a period of sixty working days leave from work on full wages hereafter referred to as “maternity leave”, of which at least four weeks shall follow the childbirth or miscarriage.
2. A female employee who becomes pregnant shall have the right to return, to the job which she held immediately before her maternity leave or to a reasonably suitable alternative job on terms and conditions not less favorable than those which would have applied had she not been absent on maternity leave.
3. A female employee is entitled to the rights mentioned in subsections (1), (2) if she gives not less than seven days’ notice in advance or a shorter period as may be reasonable in the circumstances, of her intention to return to work.
4. The notices referred to in subsection (4) shall be in writing if the employer so requests.
5. A female employee who seeks to exercise any of the rights mentioned in this section shall, if requested by the employer, produce a certificate as to her medical condition from a qualified medical practitioner or midwife.

Paternity leave.(57)

1. A male employee shall, immediately after the delivery or miscarriage of a wife, have the right to a period of four working days’ leave from work yearly herein referred to as paternity leave.
2. An employee referred to in subsection (1) shall be entitled to the payment of his full wages during the said paternity leave.
3. A male employee shall, after the paternity leave, have the right to return to the job which he held immediately before his paternity leave.

Sick Leave

(1) An employee who has completed not less than one month’s continuous service with an employer and who is incapable of work because of sickness or injury is entitled to sick pay as follows—

• For the first month’s absence from work he or she is entitled to full wages and every other benefit whether for his or her family or himself or herself stipulated in the contract of
  Service; and
• If at the expiration of the second month the sickness of the employee still continues, the employer is entitled to terminate the contract of service on complying with all the terms of the contract of service up to the time of termination of employment

(2) For the employee to be entitled to sick pay as referred to in subsection (1), the employee shall—

• Notify or cause to be notified as soon as is reasonably practicable, his or her employer of his or her absence and the reason for it; and
• Produce, if requested by his or her employer and at intervals of not less than one week, a written certificate signed by a qualified medical practitioner certifying his or her incapacity for work and duration of the incapacity.

(3) The employer may require that the certificate referred to in subsection (2)(b) be obtained from a qualified medical practitioner other than the company medical practitioner except that, in such a case the employer is responsible for any fees and transport costs payable in connection with the issuing of the certificate.

3.Working hours and overtime.

Length of working hours.

• Subject to subsections (2) and (3), in all establishments, the maximum working hours for employees shall be forty eight hours per week.
• The employer and the employee may agree that the maximum working hours per week shall not be less than forty eight hours.
• Subject to subsection (4), an employer and employee may, agree that the normal working hours in a week shall be more than forty eight hours.
• Hours of work shall not, except as provided in subsection (5), exceed ten hours per day or fifty six hours per week
• Where persons are employed in shifts, it shall be permissible to employ persons in excess of ten hours in any one day or forty-eight hours in any one week, where the average number of hours over a period of three weeks exceeds neither ten hours per day nor fifty six hours per week.

Weekly rest

An employee shall not be required to work for an employer for more than six consecutive days without a day’s rest, which shall be taken on any day which is customary or as shall be agreed between the parties.

The Minister may by regulations exclude from the operation of this section—

• Persons holding high managerial positions; and
• Persons working in family establishments employing not more than five dependent relatives.

Overtime and overtime compensation.

Normal working hours are 8 per day and 48 per week. Workers may be required to work overtime, provided that total working hours, inclusive of overtime, must not exceed 10 hours per day or fifty six hours per week except when persons are employed in shifts. It is permissible to employ shift workers in excess of ten hours in any one day or 48 hours in any one week (without paying overtime), where the average number of hours over a period of three weeks may not exceed 10 hours per day and 56 hours per week.

Where hours in excess of eight hours per day or forty eight hours per week are worked, they shall, in the absence of a written agreement to the contrary, be remunerated at the minimum rate of one and a half times of the normal hourly rate if the overtime is on the normal working days, and at two times the hourly rate where the overtime is worked on gazetted public holidays.

The Minister may, after consultation with the Labor Advisory Board, regulate the maximum number of hours per week including overtime work, which may be worked in any industry or occupation and may, by order, provide for temporary exceptions in extraordinary situations where the public interest so requires. However, no such order could be located.

Training and skills development.
In accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it is the responsibility of an employer to provide instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure health and safety at work of his workers.

4.Remuneration.
Minimum wages.
Uganda’s minimum wage is 6,000 Ugandan shillings per month for all workers. Uganda’s minimum wage was last changed in 1-Jan-1884.

Salary/wages.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), wages shall be paid in legal tender to the employee entitled to payment.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an employer may, with the prior written agreement of the employee, pay wages by bank cheque, postal order, money order or by direct payment to the employee’s bank account.

Payment of wages.
The payment of wages in legal tender shall take place at the place of the employee’s work or, if he or she works at more than one location, the premises of his or her employer from which he or she works or from which his or her work is administered.

Payment of wages shall not take place in premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages or in places of amusement, except in the case of employees whose place of work is in such premises.

Payment of wages to another
Except where it is expressly provided by law, no person may receive the wages due to any employee on behalf of that employee without the written permission of the employee to whom the wages are due.

Permitted deductions

(1) The following deductions from remuneration due to an employee are permitted—

• An amount in respect of any tax, rate, subscription or contribution imposed by law;
• Where the employee has previously given his or her written consent to a deduction being made, the deduction being in respect of any amount representing a contribution to any provident or pension fund or scheme established or maintained by the employer or some other person;
• deduction by way of reasonable rent or other reasonable charge for accommodation provided by the employer for the employee, or the employee’s family, where the employee has agreed to the deduction; and
• Union dues, deducted in accordance with section 50.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, an employer shall not deduct from the wages of an employee the cost of any protective gear or tools of trade which are provided by the employer.

(3) The attachment of wages by operation of law shall be permitted, but any such attachment shall not be more than two-thirds of all remuneration due in respect of that pay period.

5.Lay off/redundancy procedure.

Termination.

(1) Termination shall be deemed to take place in the following instances—

• Where the contract of service is ended by the employer with notice;
• where the contract of service, being a contract for a fixed term or task, ends with the expiry of the specified term or the completion of the specified task and is not renewed within a period of one week from the date of expiry on the same terms or terms not less favorable to the employee;
• Where the contract of service is ended by the employee with or without notice, as a consequence of unreasonable conduct on the part of the employer towards the employee; and
• Where the contract of service is ended by the employee, in circumstances where the employee has received notice of termination of the contract of service from the employer, but before the expiry of the notice.

(2) The date of termination shall, unless the contrary is stated, be deemed to be—
• in the circumstances governed by subsection (1)(a), the date of expiry of the notice given;
• in the circumstances governed by subsection (1)(b),the date of expiry of the fixed term or completion of the task;
• in the circumstances governed by subsection (1)(c) or subsection (1)(d), the date when the employee ceases to work for the employer; and
• In the circumstances when an employee attains normal retirement age.

Notification and hearing before termination.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, an employer shall, before reaching a decision to dismiss an employee, on the grounds of misconduct or poor performance, explain to the employee, in a language the employee may be reasonably expected to understand, the reason for which the employer is considering dismissal and the employee is entitled to have another person of his or her choice present during this explanation.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, an employer shall, before reaching any decision to dismiss an employee, hear and consider any representations which the employee on the grounds of misconduct or poor performance, and the person ,if any chosen by the employee under subsection (1) may make.

(3) The employer shall give the employee and the person, if any, chosen under subsection (1) a reasonable time within which to prepare the representations referred to in subsection (2).

(4) Irrespective of whether any dismissal which is a summary dismissal is justified, or whether the dismissal of the employee is fair, an employer who fails to comply with this section is liable to pay the employee a sum equivalent to four weeks’ net pay.

(5) A complaint alleging a failure on the part of the employer to comply with this section may be joined with any complaint alleging unjustified summary dismissal or unfair dismissal, and may be made to a labour officer by an employee who has been dismissed, and the labour officer shall have power to order payment of the sum mentioned in subsection (4) in addition to making an order in respect of any other award or decision reached in respect of the dismissal.

(6) A complaint under subsection (5) shall be made within three months after the date of dismissal.

Proof of reason for termination.
(1) In any claim arising out of termination the employer shall prove the reason or reasons for the dismissal, and where the employer fails to do so, the dismissal shall be deemed to have been unfair within the meaning of section 71.

(2) The reason or reasons for dismissal shall be matters, which the employer, at the time of dismissal, genuinely believed to exist and which caused him or her to dismiss the employee.

(3) In deciding whether an employer has satisfied this section, the contents of a certificate such as is referred to in section 61 informing the employee of the reasons for termination of employment shall be taken into account.

Summary termination
(1) Summary termination shall take place when an employer terminates the service of an employee without notice or with less notice than that to which the employee is entitled by any statutory provision or contractual term.
(2) Subject to this section, no employer has the right to terminate a contract of service without notice or with less notice than that to which the employee is entitled by any statutory provision or contractual term.
(3) An employer is entitled to dismiss summarily, and the dismissal shall be termed justified, where the employee has, by his or her conduct indicated that he or she has fundamentally broken his or her obligations arising under the contract of service.

Complaint to labor officer In case of a summary termination

Notice periods. (58)

(1) A contract of service shall not be terminated by an employer unless he or she gives notice to the employee, except—

• where the contract of employment is terminated summarily in accordance with section 69; or
• where the reason for termination, is attainment of retirement age.

(2) The notice referred to in this section shall be in writing, and shall be in a form and language that the employee to whom it relates can reasonably be expected to understand.

(3) The notice required to be given by an employer or employee under this section shall be—

• not less than two weeks, where the employee has been employed for a period of more than six months but less than one year;
• not less than one month, where the employee has been employed for a period of more than twelve months, but less than five years;
• not less than two months, where the employee has been employed for period of five ,but less than ten years; and
• not less than three months where the service is ten years or more.

(4) Where the pay period by reference to which the employee is paid his or her wages is longer than the period of notice to which the employee would be entitled under sub section (3), the employee is entitled to notice equivalent to that pay period.

(5) Any agreement between the parties to exclude the operation of this section shall be of no effect, but this shall not prevent an employee accepting payment in lieu of notice.

(6) Any outstanding period of annual leave to which an employee is entitled on the termination of the employee’s employment shall not be included in any period of notice which the employee is entitled to under this section.

6.Health and safety Regulations.

(1).Duty of employers to protect workers

(1) It is the responsibility of an employer—

(a) to take, as far as is reasonably practicable, all measures for the protection of his or her workers and the general public from the dangerous aspects of the employer’s undertaking at his or her own cost;

(b) to ensure, as far is reasonably practicable, that the working environment is kept free from any hazard due to pollution by—

• employing technical measures, applied to new plant or processes in design or installation, or added to existing plant or processes; or
• employing supplementary organizational measures.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer’s duty in subsection (1), the matters to which the duty extends shall include in particular—

• the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that give, as far as is reasonably practicable, a safe working environment including its vicinity;
• arrangements for ensuring, as far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health, in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
• the provision of adequate and appropriate information, instructions, training and supervision necessary to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and health of the employees, and the application and use of occupational safety and health measures, taking into account the functions and capabilities of the different categories of workers in an undertaking;
• as far as is reasonably practicable, regarding any workplace under an employer’s control, the maintenance of the workplace in a condition that is safe and without risks to health, and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and exit from the workplace, that are safe and without such risks;
• the provision and maintenance of a working environment for the workers, that is, as far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health and which is adequate, regarding facilities and arrangements for the welfare of workers at work;
• the provision of correct information of the real and potential dangers of substances used in an undertaking including any toxicity tests and environmental impact assessment involved in the use of the substances, to all concerned;
• the provision, where necessary, of adequate personal protective equipment to prevent, as far as is reasonably practicable, the risks of accidents or of adverse effects on health

(3).Employer to monitor and control the release of dangerous substances into the environment.

(4).Employer to provide protective gear.

(5).Employer to provide alternative suitable employment.

(6).Employer to supervise health of workers.

(7).Medical records of workers to be kept.

(8).Employers’ duty to persons other than employees.

(9).Employer to display guide safety precautions.

(10).Duty to provide safe premises.

(2).Insurance.

1. Subject to subsections (2) and (3), every employer shall insure and keep himself or herself insured in respect of any liability which he or she may incur under this Act to any worker employed by him or her.
2. The insurers empowered to offer insurance under this section shall be specified in a list kept by the Minister responsible for finance and published in the official Gazette.
3. An employer shall not, for the purpose of obtaining a policy of insurance as required by this section, make any false statement or willfully do any act in consequence of which the policy is liable to be voided or payment under the policy refused.
4. An employer shall provide information regarding insurance effected to meet the requirements of this section, when reasonably requested by the labour commissioner or any person acting on his or her behalf.
5. An employer who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable—on a first conviction to a fine not exceeding ten currency points;on a second conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty currency points; andon a third and subsequent convictions, to a fine not exceeding one hundred and fifty currency points or imprisonment not exceeding twelve months or both.

(3).Employer’s liability.

1. If personal injury by accident arises out of and in the course of a worker’s employment, the injured worker’s employer shall be liable to pay compensation in accordance with this Act.
2. The employer shall not be liable in respect of an injury which does not either—

• Result in permanent incapacity; or
• Incapacitate the worker for at least three consecutive days from earning full wages at the work at which he or she was employed.

(3) An act shall be deemed to be done out of and in the course of employment when a worker acts to protect any person on the employer’s premises whom the worker believes to be injured or imperiled, or when a worker acts to protect property on the employer’s premises.

4. Any personal injury by accident arising while the employee is travelling directly to or from his or her place of work for the purpose of employment shall be deemed to be an accident arising out of and in the course of his or her employment.
5. For the purposes of this section, it shall be for the employee who suffers injury by accident arising while travelling to or from his or her place of work to show that such travel was direct.
6. Compensation shall be payable under this section whether or not the incapacity or death of the worker was due to the recklessness or negligence of the worker or otherwise.
7. Any accident arising in the course of employment shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to arise out of employment.
8. Compensation in cases of permanent incapacity or death shall, in principle, be paid in the form of periodic payments; otherwise, they may be awarded in lump sums as provided under this Act.

(4). Fatal injuries.
1. Where the deceased worker leaves any family members who are dependent on his or her earnings, the amount of compensation shall be a sum equal to sixty times his or her monthly earnings, computed in accordance with section 8 subject to a maximum which may be varied by the Minister on the recommendation of the labour advisory board.
2. Where the deceased worker does not leave any family members who are dependent on his or her earnings, the employer shall pay the expenses of the medical aid provided and the burial expenses of the deceased.
3. Where the deceased worker has, in respect of the same accident, received compensation under section 5 or 6, half of that amount shall be deducted from the sum payable under subsection (1).
4. It shall be presumed for the purposes of this Act that a worker has dependents unless the local authority of the home area of the deceased prove otherwise.
5. Where an injury results in the death of a worker, any compensation payable under this Act shall be paid to the labour commissioner who, in consultation with the Administrator General, will pay it to the beneficiaries according to the degree of dependence of the survivors to the deceased.
6. If the worker is killed as a result of an accident for which the employer has liability under this Act, the dependents (if any) of the deceased may recover from the employer the expenses of medical treatment of the deceased, burial of the deceased and expenses incidental to the medical treatment and burial of the deceased.

(5). Permanent total incapacity.
1. Except where the terms and conditions of service provide for a higher compensation, where permanent total incapacity results from any injury, the amount of compensation shall be a sum equal to sixty months’ earnings.
2. Where an injury under this section is such as to be likely to require the injured worker to have the constant assistance of another person on a permanent basis, then the amount of compensation payable shall be increased by one-quarter.

(6). Permanent partial incapacity.
(1) Where permanent partial incapacity results from the injury, the amount of compensation shall be—
1. in the case of an injury specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, such percentage of sixty times the workers’ monthly earnings as is specified in that Schedule as being the percentage of the loss of earning capacity caused by that injury;
2. in the case of an injury not specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, such percentage of sixty times the workers’ monthly earnings as is proportionate to the loss of earning capacity permanently caused by the injury.

(2) Where more than one injury results from the same accident, the amount of compensation shall be aggregated, but the amount of compensation payable under this section shall not be greater than the amount that would have been payable if the accident had caused the worker to suffer permanent total incapacity.
(3) The Minister on the recommendation of the labour advisory board may, by statutory instrument, increase the amount of compensation payable under this section.

(7). Temporary incapacity.
1. Where temporary incapacity, whether total or partial, results from the injury, the compensation shall be either a lump sum or periodic payments as the court may order, having regard to the circumstances in which the accident took place, the probable duration of the incapacity of the worker, the injuries suffered by the worker and the financial consequences for the worker and his or her dependents.

2. The period covered by hospitalisation or absence from duty certified necessary by a medical practitioner shall be regarded as a period of temporary total incapacity irrespective of the outcome of the injury, and any period subsequent but preceding final assessment of disability shall be regarded as a period of temporary partial incapacity, both periods being continuous with each other, variations in payments notwithstanding; and the maximum duration of periodical payments under this section shall not exceed ninety-six months, except where in the opinion of a medical practitioner, the period of incapacity is longer, it may be extended beyond the ninety-six months.

(8). Calculation of earnings.
1. For the purpose of this Act, the monthly earnings of a worker shall be computed in a manner best calculated to give the rate per month at which the worker has been remunerated during the twelve months immediately preceding the accident, and the computation of annual earnings shall be a multiple of twelve of that sum.
2. Where, by reason of the shortness of time during which the worker has been employed or for other good cause, it is not possible to compute the earnings of the worker in the way mentioned in subsection (1), regard may be had to the average monthly amount which was being earned by a person of similar earning capacity in the same grade as the worker and employed at the same or similar employment.
3. Where a dependent dies before payment of compensation in respect of a worker’s death is made to the dependent, his or her legal representative shall have no right to receive the payment, and the claim for compensation shall be dealt with as if that dependent had died before the worker.
4. Where an employer makes a payment to a worker or the dependents of a deceased worker pending the settlement of determination of a claim arising under this Act, the receipt shall be deducted from the amount of the compensation payable in respect of the accident, except medical expenses as provided for under section 24.

(9). Notification of accident.
1. Compensation may not be payable under this Act unless notice of the accident has been given to the employer by or on behalf of the worker as soon as is reasonably practicable, and in any case within one month after the date when the accident occurred or within three months after the date the symptoms of the occupational disease became apparent; but no notice is required where it is shown that the employer was aware of the accident or disease at or about the time it occurred or at the time when the symptoms became evident, or for any reasonable cause.

2. Notice in respect of an accident causing injury to which this Act applies shall be given in a form prescribed by the Minister, by regulations

7.Employment Security regulation.

Contract of Employment.

A person shall not be employed under a contract of service except in accordance with the Employment Act 2006.

Oral and written contacts

A contract of service, other than a contract which is required by this or any other Act to be in writing, may be made orally, and except as otherwise provided by this Act, shall apply equally to oral and written contracts.

Ugandan Labor Law does not prohibit hiring fixed term contract workers for tasks of permanent nature. There is no regulation of fixed term contracts (their maximum duration or renewals) in the Employment Act.

The casual employees may be employed for a maximum of 4 months. If these workers are engaged continuously for 4 months, a casual employee ceases to be a casual employee and all rights and benefits enjoyed by other employees shall apply to him/her (Reg. 39). The piece work employee may be engaged for a maximum period of 3 months unless the person has a contract

Probation Period

Probationary contract is a contract of employment which is not of more than 6 months duration. It is concluded in writing and states that it is for probationary period.

Maximum length of probation period is 6 months but it may be extended to 1 year with the consent of a worker.