Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) - Uganda (Ratification: 1990)

In reply to its previous comments, the Committee notes the brief report received in June 2012 in which the Government states that sections 65–86 of Employment Act No. 6 of 2006 provide for termination of employment and the procedures that must be followed by the employer and the labour unions. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the manner in which the Employment Act is applied in practice, including copies of court decisions involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention (Part IV of the report form), and available statistics on the activities of the bodies of appeal (such as the number of appeals against unjustified termination, the outcome of such appeals, the nature of the remedy awarded and the average time taken for an appeal to be decided) and on the number of terminations for economic or similar reasons in the country (Part V of the report form).

Article 2(3) of the Convention. Adequate safeguards. The Committee notes that section 65(1)(b) of the Employment Act states that termination shall be deemed to take place when 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 favourable to the employee. The Committee invites the Government to indicate what adequate safeguards are provided against recourse to contracts of employment for a specified period of time, the aim of which is to avoid the protection resulting from the Convention.

Exclusions. The Committee notes that section 3(2) of the Employment Act provides that the Act does not apply to employers and their dependent relatives and the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces. The Committee invites the Government to provide further information on the legal texts which govern the status of dependent relatives and members of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, categories of workers which were excluded from the application of the Employment Act.

Article 5. Invalid reasons for termination. The Committee notes that section 75(g) of the Employment Act provides that an employee’s race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion or affiliation, national extraction, nationality, social origin, marital status, HIV status or disability shall not constitute valid reasons for dismissal. Section 75(a) deals with pregnancy or reasons connected to pregnancy. The Committee invites the Government to indicate how effect is given to Article 5(d) of the Convention with respect to workers with family responsibilities and Article 5(e) with respect to maternity leave.

Article 6(2). Temporary absence from work. The Committee notes that section 75(1) of the Employment Act provides the maximum duration of the temporary absence, three months; however, the Act does not specify if medical certification is required. The Committee invites the Government to indicate the extent to which medical certification is required for the purpose of Article 6(1).

Article 9. Burden of proof. Operational requirements of the undertaking. The Committee notes that no information on court procedures is found in the Employment Act with respect to the burden of proof, that is, for the worker not to have to bear alone the burden of proving that the termination was not justified. The Committee invites the Government to indicate what legal texts give effect to this provision of the Convention and whether by subparagraphs (a) or (b) or both. If it is applied by subparagraph (b), please indicate how the rules and procedures governing evidence ensure that the worker does not have to bear alone the burden of proving that the termination was not justified. Please also specify whether courts are empowered under section 71(5) of the Employment Act to determine whether the termination was based on the operational requirements of the undertaking and the extent to which courts are empowered to decide whether these reasons justify the termination.

Article 11. Summary dismissal. The Committee notes that section 58 of the Employment Act states that 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. In this regard, section 69(3) of the Employment Act provides that an employer is entitled to dismiss summarily “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”. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the application of section 69(3) by the courts, by supplying copies of leading decisions involving questions of summary dismissal.

Article 12. Severance payments. The Committee notes that section 87 of the Employment Act states that an employer shall pay severance allowance if an employee has been in continuous service for a period of six months or more and where any of the specified situations apply, which include an employee unfairly dismissed by the employer. It notes that section 88(1) of the Act provides that no severance allowance shall be paid if an employee is summarily dismissed with justification. Furthermore, section 89 provides that the calculation of severance pay shall be negotiable between the employer and the workers or the labour union that represents them. The Committee invites the Government to indicate how section 89 of the Employment Act is applied and whether the amount of the severance allowance is based on the workers’ length of service and the level of wages. The Government may also be invited to indicate how summary dismissal is defined with respect to section 88(1) of the Employment Act.

Article 13. Consultation of workers’ representatives. The Committee notes that section 81(1)(a) of the Employment Act states that, if an employer contemplates the termination of not less than ten employees over a period of not more than three months for reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature, it shall provide the representatives of the labour union with relevant information at least four weeks before the termination. The Committee invites the Government to indicate how Article 13(1)(b) is applied and, in particular, in what manner provision is made for an opportunity for consultation, how far before the contemplated terminations such opportunity must be given and the objects of such consultation.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2014.]