Insights on Employment Law in Uganda| Laura Martha Tumwesigye

Introduction. According to the Employment Act, 2006, an employer can discharge an employee from employment at his or her initiative where the employee commits verifiable misconduct. Section 68 of the same Act necessitates the employer to prove the reasons for dismissal in an instance where there is a claim against him or her arising out of termination, and that the 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. The implication of this section is that an employer cannot dismiss an employee basing on matters he is not sure were true or existed by the time of dismissal, otherwise, it would be an unfair dismissal, liable to be challenged in Court. Section 66 of the Employment Act provides that before an employer reaches a decision to dismiss an employee on the grounds of misconduct, he shall accord the employee a fair hearing. The section envisions a sort of discipli...

  Introduction Research by the Economic Research Policy Center (ERPC) reveals that 420,000 Ugandans lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 wiping out several jobs. In an effort to remain in business, most business entities took to downsizing their staff by laying off their employees while others aimed for other restructuring models that could help them increase their operational efficiency like creation of specific roles, combining certain positions and completely doing away with other positions within the structures of their organizations. Two year post COVID, various business entities and organizations in Uganda are still battling the economic effects of COVID amid law suits by their former employees for compensation as a result of unlawful and unfair terminations and dismissals, demotions, inadequate compensations, among others. The Industrial Court of Uganda has in (Batabane Anatoli v Busoga Forestry Co. Ltd (Labour Dispute Reference No. 015of 2021) reexamined the circu...