Labour Market Profile - Ulandssekretariatet · Labour Market Profile 2016 Uganda 2016 Page iii...
Transcript of Labour Market Profile - Ulandssekretariatet · Labour Market Profile 2016 Uganda 2016 Page iii...
LABOUR MARKET PROFILE
2016 Uganda
LO/FTF Council, Analytical Unit
Copenhagen, Denmark
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page ii
PREFACE
The LO/FTF Council presents this Labour Market Profile
as a yearly updated report that provides an overview
of the labour market's situation.
This country profile presents the recent main
developments and is not an in-depth analysis.
Nevertheless, it shows a wide range of data in a
reader-friendly style. Certain key findings of this report
can be found on the Executive Summary.
The report is divided in 11 thematic sections, which
includes trade unions, employers’ organizations,
tripartite structures, national labour legislation,
violations of trade union rights, working conditions,
situation of the workforce (with subsections such as
unemployment, sectoral employment, migration,
informal economy, child labour, gender, and youth),
education (with subsection vocational training), social
protection, general economic performance, and trade.
Additionally, the reader finds an Appendix with a list
of labour market related legislation during 201-2016,
the ratified ILO Conventions and status of trade unions
in Uganda.
As indicated, the report is driven by statistical data
selection from international databanks, surveys and
reports (e.g. the International Labour Organization
(ILO), the International Trade Union Confederation
(ITUC), the World Bank, U.S. Department of State’s
Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,
WageIndicator Foundation, the Africa Labour Research
& Educational Institute (ALREI), etc.) as well as national
statistical institutions and ministries, and others.
Moreover, narrative inputs are collected from
international news sources (e.g. The Economist, the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), LabourStart, The
Guardian, etc.) together with local sources such as trade
unions centers, NGOs, local news, the LO/FTF Council’s
Sub-Regional Office, among others.
This report also collects references from several
indexes, e.g. Global Rights Index, Doing Business Index,
the Governance Indicators, and the Human
Development Index. The indexes’ methodologies and
the data quality can be followed by the sources
websites.
All indicators and/or narrative inputs that are used are
available by links through footnotes and sources.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This Labour Market Profile is prepared by the LO/FTF
Council’s Analytical Unit in Copenhagen with support
from our Sub-Region Office in Tanzania as well as
NOTU in terms of data collection of trade union
membership.
All other labour market profiles of the countries where
LO/FTF Council operates are available at our website:
http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/content/landeanaly
ser
Should you have questions about the profiles you can
contact Kasper Andersen ([email protected]), Manager of
the Analytical Unit.
Cover Photo: Carsten Snejbjerg
Editing, design and layout: Adriana Romero
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page iii
Uganda Labour Market Profile
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
he Republic of Uganda has demonstrated a fast
economic growth during the last three decades. The
inequality in the distribution of family income has
declining slightly along with the number of the working
poor. A middle-class is on a rise. The country remains as
a poor country standing by a ranking of 202 out of
229 countries (229 is bottom).
Uganda’s labour market passed through some legal
reforms during the last three years. Among others, since
2016 all employers will be required to issue itemized
pay slips and Key Employment Terms (KETs) to
employees covered under the Employment Act. Still the
overall legislations coverage has a poor compliance,
according to the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC). It is not only due to flaws in the
legislations, but also a large majority of the labour
force is not covered by the regulations in practice but
operating in the informal economy. By the same token,
it is not easy doing business in Uganda, which includes a
cumbersome registering of starting a business. Not to
mention, regular violations of trade union rights are
registered.
The average earnings in Uganda have been on a
steady increase. It has been negatively affected by the
volatile inflation in consumer prices, though. The
standing minimum wage is outdated from 1984. A new
draft Minimum Wage Bill is still waiting to be
approved. On the positive side, the government has
taken steps in 2016 to prosecute registered institutions
and workplaces that do not comply with the
Occupational Safety and Health standards.
The population and the labour force are on a fast rise
which is creating a high pressure of job creation. The
participation rate is high. Unemployment, on a
international standard interpretation of the term, is not
a rampant problem. The challenge is much more related
to the skills mismatch between job requirements and
qualifications. As an example, the incidence of under-
education in skills mismatch is very high at 73%.
As just indicated, the labour market is fragmented by a
narrow formal sector and an absorbing informal
economy. Estimations suggest that at least nine out of
ten workers are in informal employment. Especially this
latter segment of workers is confronting vulnerable
working conditions and not receiving the wage
standards. The total number of wage and salaried
workers is only slowly growing in Uganda; and
especially the employment in the industry sector has not
increased. The agricultural sector employs three out of
four of the total employment while this sector
contributes with 27% of the GDP. This explains, to some
extent, why the labour productivity has been relatively
low and the growth has been flat during the last five
years. It is worth to mention that ownership of businesses
in Uganda is dominated by very small enterprises,
which is a challenge of the taxation.
Access to economic opportunities has gender disparities
in Uganda. This has been related to cultural customs,
e.g. women getting married on a young age. The
country has also experienced some changes. This has
been noted by the rising school enrolment and
attainment for both males and females.
The social protection in Uganda is very
underdeveloped. Only 2% of the population is covered
by health social protection and with relatively high
health-care expenditure financed by private
household’s out-of-pocket payments. The social
protection system is currently under controversial
reforms.
The trade union movement has experienced an
impressive influx of members. This has been related to
affiliation of organized workers from the informal
economy as well as a positive impact of strikes on
salary increments. The trade union density is estimated
at 3.2% of the total labour force and 20% of the wage
and salaried workers. Previously the trade union centres
were confronting rivalry, but the social dialogue has
improved significantly. Results of lengthy negotiations
and undersigning a Memorandum of Understanding in
October 2016, a unification of the two trade union
centers, NOTU and COFTU, along with three non-
affiliated trade unions, was launched.
T
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page iv
COUNTRY MAP
Source: The CIA World Factbook
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page v
TABLE OF CONTENT
Preface........................................................................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgment ....................................................................................................................................................... ii
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................... iii
Country Map .............................................................................................................................................................. iv
Trade Union ................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Employers’ Organisations .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Central BI/Tripartite Structures .................................................................................................................................... 2
National Labour Legislation ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Employment (Employment of Children) Regulations .................................................................................................. 5
Observations on the labour legislation .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Ratified ILO Conventions .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Trade Union Rights Violations .................................................................................................................................... 6
Working Conditions .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Workforce ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Unemployment ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Sectoral Employment ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Informal Economy ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Migration ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13
Child Labour........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
Gender ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Youth ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Education .................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Vocational training ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Social Protection ....................................................................................................................................................... 18
General Economic Performance ................................................................................................................................ 19
Trade ........................................................................................................................................................................ 22
Trade Agreements ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23
Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Appendix: Additional Data ....................................................................................................................................... 25
List approved labour related legislations in Uganda, 2014-2016 ...................................................................................................................... 25
Ratified ILO Conventions .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Trade Unions in Uganda .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 26
References ................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page vi
Tables Table 1: Facts of trade unions in Uganda, 2016 ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Table 2: Status of Trade Union Centers and independent unions in Uganda, 2016 ........................................................................................................ 1
Table 3: Status of CBAs in Uganda, 2013-2015 ................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Table 4: Status of the national labour, social security and human rights related legislations in Uganda ..................................................................... 5
Table 5: Global Rights Index, Uganda ranking, 2014-2016 .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Table 6: Freedom of Association cases in Uganda, 2016 .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Table 7: Wages and earnings, Monthly average and legal minimum wages................................................................................................................... 7
Table 8: Working Conditions in Uganda ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Table 9: Employment-to-population ratio in Rwanda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ............................................................................................... 8
Table 10: Inactivity Rate in Uganda, 2016 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Table 11: Skills mismatches between job requirements and qualifications in Uganda .................................................................................................... 9
Table 12: Unemployment, youth unemployment and underemployment in Uganda ........................................................................................................ 9
Table 13: Total sector employment, sector employment share and ratio of men in sector employment in Uganda, 2009 ..................................... 10
Table 14: GDP share by sector, 2014, % and per worker ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Table 15: Employment in the informal economy in Uganda, 2013, % ............................................................................................................................. 12
Table 16: Migration Facts ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
Table 17: Working children Proportion of all children in age group ............................................................................................................................... 14
Table 18: Highest level attained and years of schooling in the population .................................................................................................................... 16
Table 19: Status of vocational training ................................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Table 20: Public spending on social protection schemes, 2011 ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Table 21: Pension Benefits, Coverage and Contributions in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), % ............................................................. 19
Table 22: Key Facts on General Economic Performance in Uganda, 2015..................................................................................................................... 19
Table 23: Uganda’s Ease of Doing Business ......................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Table 24: Uganda's Governance Indicators, 2010-2015 .................................................................................................................................................. 22
Table 25: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), 2015 .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Table 26: List approved labour related legislations in Uganda, 2014-2016 ................................................................................................................ 25
Table 27: Ratified ILO Conventions........................................................................................................................................................................................ 25
Table 28: Trade Unions in Uganda, 2016 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Figures Figure 1: NOTU membership growth, 2007-2015 ................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Figure 2: Average earnings in Uganda, Shillings and US$, 2004-2012 ........................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 3: Labour force participation rate in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1995-2016, % .................................................................. 8
Figure 4: Unemployment trends in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 2007-2016, % ................................................................................... 9
Figure 5: Employment by aggregate sector, 2002-2013, % ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 6: Status in employment in Uganda, 2002-2013, % .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 7: Uganda’s sector share trend, % of GDP .............................................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 8: Labour productivity trend, 2007-2016 ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 9: Employment by Activity Status in Uganda 2002/03 - 2009/10, % .............................................................................................................. 12
Figure 10: Distribution of employees engaged in the informal economy in Uganda ..................................................................................................... 12
Figure 11: Distribution of Informal Businesses by Industry .................................................................................................................................................. 12
Figure 12: Net migration ratio to population in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2010 .......................................................................... 13
Figure 13: Women in firms’ top management and ownership, 2013 ............................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 14: Status in employment in Uganda, 2002-2013, by sex, % .............................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 15: Youth labour force participation rate in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1995-2016, by sex, % ..................................... 15
Figure 16: School levels and Enrolment ................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
Figure 17: Vocational training trends .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 18: Health-care expenditure not financed by private household's out-of-pocket payments, 1995-2011, % ............................................... 18
Figure 19: GDP per capita real growth ................................................................................................................................................................................ 19
Figure 20: GDP per capita (PPP) growth in US$ and Gini Index (%) .............................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 21: Working poor trends, 1992-2012, % ................................................................................................................................................................ 20
Figure 22: Middle-class trends, 1992-2012, % ................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 23: Inflation in consumer prices, 2006-2015, % ...................................................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 24: Gross Fixed Capital Formation, 2006-2015, % of GDP ................................................................................................................................ 21
Figure 25: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment trends ...................................................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 26: Uganda's main products share of exports, 2014 ............................................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 27: Uganda's main export markets, 2015 ................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 1
TRADE UNION
The development of trade unions in Uganda can be
traced as early as the 1930’s when the first trade union
was formed.1 Unions have shifted from the old style of
unionism of 'craft unions' to more industrial and general
workers unions.
By law workers are allowed to form and join
independent unions, except for the so-called “essential”
government employees, including police, army, and
management-level officials. According to sources, trade
unions are legally independent of the government and
political parties. Workers representatives are part of
five special groups in the Parliament. Some cases
suggest that government union interference is present
and the five seats members do not always represent the
interests of workers.2 On the same token, the
Constitutional Court nullified the special interest
Member of Parliament slots for organized labour in
September 2015. During 2016 the trade union
movement raised their concerns that the Electoral
Commission has not come up with a clear road map for
the elections of workers' representatives in the
Parliament.3
All unions must be registered under the National
Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU) or the Central
Organization of Free Trade Unions (COFTU). Only
NOTU is affiliated to the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC).
Despite previous rivalry between the NOTU and the
COFTU, they have been strengthening ties, particularly
in cases of joint actions and positions. In October 2016
the two organizations signed a Memorandum of
Understanding which was crafting one unification center
that will lead to coordinated activities. In practice it
brings together the unions in one center. The unification
process is currently driven by the following activities: i)
writing a new constitution; ii) adopting the new
constitution under the new organ established by the
undersigned MoU unions, and iii) unifying the unions.
A total 52 labour unions are registered; of these 42
are affiliated to NOTU COFTU, and 10 are
independent. Around 547,000 workers are registered
as members of trade unions, which illustrates a trade
union density at 3.2% of the labour force or 20% of
wage and salaried workers (Table 1 & Appendix Table
28).
Table 1: Facts of trade unions in Uganda, 2016
Number of trade unions 53
Due 2-3 %
Members of trade unions 547,243
Trade union members share of workers 3.2 %
Trade union members share to waged workers *)
20 %
Women member share of trade unions N/A
Members of affiliated trade unions from the informal economy
71,000
*) The share was estimated by the total number of members divided by
the wage and salaried workers. This overestimate slightly the real share
since affiliated members from the informal economy is included in the
estimation.
Source: LO/FTF Council and NOTU
NOTU is the largest organization which affiliated close
to 446,000 workers in 2016 and more than 10 times
larger than COFTU. As mentioned, NOTU has merged
many members from COFTU and three independent
unions, so far. Workers from the informal economy are
also entering the trade unions systems on new levels.
NOTO’s membership grew by 121% in the period from
2012 to 2016. In contrast, COFTU lost approximate
two out the three (-63%) members even before the
merge of the centres (Table 2).
Table 2: Status of Trade Union Centers and independent unions in Uganda, 2016
Trade Union Centre Total
Members
Membership growth,
2012-2016
NOTU 445,849 121%
COFTU 30,733 -63%
Independent unions 70,662 N/a
Total 547,242 N/a
Note: The number of member from independent unions excludes data from four trade unions due to lack of data (Table 28). Source: NOTU and LO/FTF Council
The changes in the trade union movement have been
related to several issues. First of all, negotiation
structures were set up in the public sector. Among
others, the government has signed a recognition
agreement with the public service unions, although the
Uganda Public Employees was inadvertent not included,
according to union officials. It has also been noted that
public service unions are able to negotiate salaries and
employment terms for members. Not to mention, NOTU
campaigned in 2015 against a 40% increment to
members of parliament as a reaction to governments’
refusal to increase teachers’ salaries.
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 2
Secondly, NOTU has open up access to workers from
the informal economy through affiliated unions in 2012.
It was registered that over 71,000 workers were
affiliated from the informal economy in NOTU in 2015.
This has been an impact of the organization’s improved
use of regional trainer networks to provide training in
trade unionism and organizing. In addition, data
collection on informal economy and trade union
materials has been part of NOTU strategy to service to
workers from the informal economy.4 A reflection of
these two mentioned changes is presented on Figure 1.
Figure 1: NOTU membership growth, 2007-2016
Source: NOTU
According to sources, some employers ignore the legal
requirement to enter into collective bargaining
agreements with registered unions.5 However the social
dialogue in the labour market is improving with more
constructive and consensus-seeking social dialogue
between NOTU and the employers’ organization,
Federation of Ugandan Employers (FUE). NOTU is
together with FUE pushing government to set up a
separate Ministry of Labour, which is currently known as
the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development
(MGLSD), and strengthen the industrial court.
NOTU’s constitution from 2012 has turned into
improvements such as the direct check-off system for
union fees. It has improved NOTU financial situation and
sustainability considerable. Next step is to increase the
efficiency in fee collection from private employers. This
constitution has equally made way for proportional
representation and for direct affiliation of informal
economy associations. NOTU developed an Informal
Sector Collaboration Strategy 2014-2015.
It has been noted that some employers used a
“recognition agreement” to allow union operations at
the workplace.
EMPLOYERS’ ORGANISATIONS
Federation of Ugandan Employers (FUE)6
Founded in 1958, FUE is the main employers’
organization in Uganda, and therefore has
representatives in most important bi/tripartite organs,
such as the Minimum Wage Advisory Boards, Industrial
Court, National Social Security Board, Labour Advisory
Board, etc. FUE’s mission is to enhance member’s
competitiveness through policy advocacy, promotion of
best human resource practices and provision of business
development services. The organization aims to be a
leading organization that serving employers interests
and needs by 2018. It has 354 enterprise members
and 18 sectorial employers’ organisation members. FUE
handles industrial relations and also provides (mainly
legal) services to its members.
In tripartite settings, FUE mainly works with NOTU as the
equal social partner. FUE is governed by an annual
general meeting. FUE are actively involved in providing
useful institutional services to informal economy
businesses. The Chairperson of FUE, Ms. Rosemary N.
Ssenbulya at the same time is Chairperson of the East
African Employers Organization (EAEO).
FUE launched of a simplified guide of labour laws in
April 2016 that was directed towards all Chinese
companies operating in Uganda to help them
understand the regulations in Uganda.
CENTRAL BI/TRIPARTITE STRUCTURES
Collective Bargaining
Generally, the rights to bargain collectively are
generally not respected, and the government does not
always protect these rights, according to sources.7
Among others, the labour legislation does not provide
the right to collective bargaining in the public service
sector. The law also does not explicitly provide trade
union federations and confederations the right to
engage in collective bargaining. A document of
recognition must be obtained before unions could
engage in collective bargaining.
Fifteen Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) were
signed in 2015 with an annual increased of wages per
CBAs between 0-15% (Table 3). Unions affiliated to
NOTU are reported to have concluded 60 CBAs
(Appendix Table 28).
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
500000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 3
Table 3: Status of CBAs in Uganda, 2013-2015 2013 2014 2015
Number of CBAs 16 16 15
Annual increase of
wages per CBA 0-15% 13.5%-15% 1%-15%
Source: WageIndicator Foundation, Uganda Country Profile, May
2016
It is worth mentioning that the WageIndicator
Foundation launched a sample of a CBA model in
Uganda in October 2016, which can be useful as a
standard template for crafting CBAs in practice.8
Industrial Relations Charter
In May 23, 2013, a National Tripartite Charter on
Labour Relations was signed between the Government,
FUE and trade union representatives from NOTU and
COFTU, spelling out the working relations between the
involved parties.9 The charter holds clauses on “one
workplace, one union”, addressing demarcation lines
between trade unions thereby in effect regulating
relations between NOTU and COFTU. The two latter
organizations have also prepared for signing a bi-
partite charter on industrial relations with FUE
addressing the private sector. The rivalry between
NOTU and COFTU has so far put the process on hold,
though. According to the government, the charter is
operational. In addition, its existence has improved the
industrial environment.
Labour Advisory Board (LAB)
LAB was appointed in 2011 after almost a decade of
no such tripartite advisory body and with no budgetary
allocations committed to operate effectively and
efficiently. Today, LAB consists of 13 members, of whom
the employers’ and trade unions organizations have two
representatives each and six ministries are represented.
The board advises the Minister of Labour on labour
legislation and employment matters, oversees the
labour inspectorates, implementation of labour policy,
among others. In the beginning of 2009 a technical
tripartite committee under the auspices of the LAB
started to discuss minimum wages.10
Although tripartite structures for social dialogue such as
the LAB, the Medical Arbitration Board (MAB), the
Occupational Safety and Health Board, the Industrial
Court exist, it is only the LAB and MAB that are fully
functional due to budgetary constraints to
operationalize these boards.
Minimum Wage Advisory Board
The existence of a minimum wage in Uganda dates
back to the 1930s when the first Minimum Wages
Board was established. The minimum wage continued to
be routinely adjusted until 1984 when it reached 6,000
Ugandan shilling per month. No further adjustments
were subsequently made. Both a reform of the Minimum
Wages Advisory Council from 1995 and a new, draft
Minimum Wage Bill from 2012 have not been passed.
The Government formed a body in 2016 which consists
of seven members that will study the economic
relationship between minimum wages, wage
distribution, hours worked and poverty eradication,
education, training as well as analyze the probable
impact, if any, of the minimum wages on investment in
Uganda.11
NOTU and FUE are jointly providing data collection
and provide input to the government on fixing of
minimum wages in the private sector.
National Negotiation and Consultation Council
(NNCC)
The government inaugurated the NNCC in 2012, which
is a key step in the effort to negotiate the salary and
welfare of government workers, i.e. the public sector
negotiation machinery. The negotiation system has been
instrumental in negotiation salary policies and how to
improve salary and working conditions for the different
groups of civil servants.
Industrial Court
The Industrial Court mediation and arbitrates on all
trade disputes are referred from the Ministry of
Gender Labour and Social Development (MGLSD). The
Industrial Court consists of five members: two judges, an
independent member and a representative of
employers’ organisations and of trade unions.12
After being inactive for several years, the Industrial
Court commenced work in late 2014 following the
resolving of national budget issues and the long last
appointment of six judges to handle labour disputes.
Due to the none-functionality of the court had created a
pile up of up to 2,013 unheard disputes. The court has
disposed of 20 cases since its reactivation (April 2015)
and received 249 cases referred by the Civil Division
of the High Court. The court also received 11 cases and
11 appeals from the Ministry of Gender Labour and
Social Development (MGLSD). The court remained
constrained because it was not fully staffed and had
limited office facilities. On the positive side, during
2016 the government has launched several reforms to
re-constitute and operationalize the Industrial Court,
which has since handled several cases, appointed the
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 4
Minimum Wages Advisory Board and appointed a new
Labour Advisory Board.
Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) PSFU is an apex body for the private sector. The institution was founding in 1995 and has served as a focal point for private sector advocacy as well as capacity building and continues to sustain a positive policy dialogue with Government on behalf of the private sector. PSFU is made up of at least 190 business associations,
corporate bodies and the major public sector agencies
that support private sector growth. The institution has
implemented several projects and programs aimed at
strengthening the private sector as an engine of
economic growth.
PSFU aims to strengthen Private Sector capacity for
effective policy advocacy and market competitiveness
nationally, regionally and internationally. Regionally,
PSFU is the national focal point for the East African
Business Council (EABC) and the COMESA Business
Council (CBC). It aims to advocate for an improved
business environment and work with Government to
reduce the cost of doing business in Uganda.
Other bi/tripartite organs
Vocational Training Board
Immigration Board
Occupational Safety and Health Board
National Social Security Fund
National Curriculum Development Centre
HIV/AIDS Coordination Committee for the Private
Sector
Industrial Training Council
Management Training and Advisory Centre
Business, Technical , Vocational Education and
Training Examinations Board
Nakawa Vocational Training Institute
Skilling Uganda
National Steering Committee on Child Labour
Platform for Labour Action
NATIONAL LABOUR LEGISLATION
Constitution13
The constitution of 1995 establishes the following: i)
freedom of association, ii) right to work under safe and
healthy conditions, iii) form and join unions, collective
bargaining and representation, and iv) equal payment
for equal work. In 2005 and 2013 reforms were
launched but not concluded. In July 2016, the
government launched plans of a complete overhaul of
the Constitution.
Employment Act14
The Employment act of 2006 establishes fundamental
rights at work, the Labour Advisory Board and Labour
Inspectorate. It regulates employment relationship,
wages, leave, working hours and termination of
employment. Labour officials have registered that
domestic and agricultural workers as well as those in
the informal sector are excluded from the protection of
the labor laws.15
Based on a review of the Employment Act obtained
through several platforms during several years,
amendments were approved and in effect in April
2016. Now all employers will be required to issue
itemized pay slips and Key Employment Terms (KETs) to
employees covered under the Employment Act. There
will also be a new framework to treat less severe
breaches of the Employment Act.
The Trade Union Act16
The Trade Union Act was enacted in 2006. The law
allows unions to conduct activities without interference,
prohibits antiunion discrimination by an employer, and
provides for reinstatement of workers dismissed for
union activity. In addition, workers have the right to
strike, freedom of association, and the right to bargain
collectively. The law also empowers the minister of
labour to refer disputes to the Industrial Court when one
or both parties to a dispute refuse to comply with the
recommendations of the report issued by a board of
inquiry. According to sources, compulsory arbitration is
acceptable only for workers in “essential services” and
public employees engaged in the administration of the
state.17
The Labour Disputes Act18
The Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Mediation) Act
was enacted in 2006. It aims to simplify and reduce the
statutory procedures for settling labour disputes,
encourage the use of voluntary conciliation and
arbitration and the observance of collective bargaining
agreements.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act19
This act of 2006 establishes duties, rights and
responsibilities of workers and employers, health and
welfare requirements and establishes the Occupational
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 5
Safety and Health Board. The law covers all workers,
including foreign and migrant workers. It except
workers from the informal economy, though. So far
more than 800 workplaces have been registered on the
Act’s framework (2015 April).20
The Equal Opportunities Commission Act21
This enacted 2007 act makes provision in relation to the
Equal Opportunities Commission and to eliminate
discrimination and inequalities against any individual or
group of persons on all levels.
Workers Regular Compensation Act
This act from 2011 is related to the workplace,
including the rights and responsibilities of employers,
workers, and other workplace parties, are provided
verbatim and shown in normal text. In addition, the act
deal with administrative provisions, such as
administrative practices and regulation-making
authority of the Workers' Compensation
Employment (Employment of Children) Regulations22
With this act from 2012, the Regulations contain
restrictions on the employment of children, penalties for
violations, a list of hazardous activities prohibited to
children under 18, and a list of activities considered
light work. The list of hazardous activities includes
prohibitions by different age groups of tasks in a
variety of areas, e.g. several agricultural sectors,
construction, mining, and urban informal work. The
regulations also prohibit the use, procurement, or
offering of a child for illicit activities, including the
production and trafficking of drugs.
Other legislations
Several other legislations exist that regulate and set
standards and restrictions for the labour market in
Uganda. ILO registered a total 135 national labour,
social security and human rights related legislations.23
The last decade was a hectic period of labour law
reform in Uganda. The purpose of new instruments was
to fill in the gaps in legislation and, in particular, to
improve the existing framework of labour law for
better implementation and compliance. Moreover, to
the enactment of a number of statutes, a set of
regulations in the area of labour and employment were
adopted in 2011. Remarkably, these instruments were
the result of tripartite consultations.
It is worth mentioning that the period from 2014 to
2016 has been less active in terms of approving
new/amended labour markets related laws. In total
seven pieces of legislations were registered in this
period on a range of general provisions; education,
vocational guidance and training; equality of
opportunity and treatment; and employment policy,
promotion of employment and employment services (see
more on Table 4 and Appendix Table 26).
Table 4: Status of the national labour, social security and
human rights related legislations in Uganda
2014 2015 2016
Number of new/amended
legislations 2 4 1
Source: ILO, NATLEX, Uganda
On the other hand, several policies and initiatives were
launched during 2015-2016 which include: rolling out
of the “Green” Jobs & Fair Labour Market Program;
domestication of ILO conventions; registration of work
places under the Occupational Safety and Health Act;
implementation of the National Employment Policy;
development of the National Program of Action on
Employment; the development of the Youth Employment
Plan; and development of the National Social Security
Policy for Uganda.
Observations on the labour legislation
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has
registered several observations of poor compliance with
the labour market legislations, among others:24
Barriers to the establishment of organizations, i.e.
formalities or requirements have excessively delay
or substantially impair the free establishment of
organizations.
Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and
self-administer in full freedom.
Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally
dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union
organizations.
An foreign shall not be a member of the executive
committee of a trade union.
Compulsory conciliation and/or binding arbitration
procedure in the event of disputes during collective
bargaining, other than in essential services.
Compulsory recourse to arbitration, or to long and
complex conciliation and mediation procedures
prior to strike actions.
Absence of an independent body responsible for
declaring whether a strike is legal or not.
Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and
unions involved in non-authorized strike actions.
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 6
Ratified ILO Conventions
With reference to Uganda’s ratification of the
international labour standards, a total 37 ILO
Conventions are ratified (see also Appendix Table
27):25
Fundamental Conventions: 8 of 8.
Governance Conventions (Priority): 3 of 4
Technical Conventions: 20 of 177.
Out of 31 Conventions ratified by Uganda, of
which 30 are in force, 1 Convention has been
denounced; none have been ratified in the past 12
months.
The latest ratified Conventions were in 2005: i)
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
(No. 111); ii) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006),
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize Convention (No. 87); and iii) Equal
Remuneration Convention (No. 100).
TRADE UNION RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Uganda was ranked as three out of five at ITUC’s
Global Rights Index in 2016, classified with ‘Regular
violations of rights’, i.e. “[g]overnments and/or
companies are regularly interfering in collective labour
rights or are failing to fully guarantee important
aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws
and/or certain practices which make frequent violations
possible.”26 The country has stayed on that ranking
during the last three years (Table 5).
Table 5: Global Rights Index, Uganda ranking, 2014-2016 2014 2015 2016
Ranking on the Global Rights
Index 3 3 3
Note: Five clusters in total with ratings from 1 to 5. A country is
assigned the rating 5+ by default, if the rule of law has completely
broken down.
Source: ITUC, Global Rights Index
Since 2014 ITUC has registered one case related to an
arrest made to trade unionists, which is something usual
in Uganda. Among others, two unionists were arrested
when they were demanding the introduction of a
minimum wage. On the same token, demonstrations are
often prohibited.27
Another source registered several instances of
government interference in union activity: 28
First of all, NOTU reported major strikes over low
salaries, wages, delayed salary payments, and poor
working conditions and claimed police often used
excessive force to disperse striking workers.
Secondly, anti-union discrimination occurred, and labour
activists accused several companies of preventing
employees from joining unions by denying promotions,
not renewing work contracts, and sometimes refusing to
recognize unions. NOTU reported many workers failed
to join trade unions due to fear of intimidation and
dismissal.
Thirdly, labour activists reported some employers
ignored the legal requirement to enter into CBAs with
registered unions. Labour activists also registered that
some employers resorted to subcontracting and
outsourcing services or hired workers temporarily to
avoid such agreements. NOTU argued that employers
required a document of recognition from a union before
they would engage in collective bargaining with it.
There are reports of forced labour, particularly in
prisons. Many men prisoners perform arduous physical
labour, while women prisoners produce marketable
handicrafts, such as woven basketry. Compensation,
when paid, generally was very low.29
ILO's Committee of Freedom of Association has no
Freedom of Association cases or follow-up cases with
Uganda (Table 6).
Table 6: Freedom of Association cases in Uganda, 2016
ILO Complaints Procedure
Active 0
Follow-up 0
Closed 4
Source: ILO, NORMLEX, International Labour Standards country
profile, Uganda
WORKING CONDITIONS
The legal minimum wage was set at 6,000 Shillings
(US$2.2) back in 1984 and has not been updated since
then (Table 7). In 2003 the government and the private
sector attempted to negotiate the minimum wage,
raising it to 54,000 Shillings (US$21). The initiative did
not pass by law, though.30 In 2015 a new initiative, the
draft Private Member’s Minimum Wages Bill, was
presented in the Parliament. And, as previously
mentioned, the Government formed a minimum wage
body in 2016 that review the economic relationship
between minimum wages. Om this background, the
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 7
International Labour Organization (ILO) dropped
Uganda off the shortlisted countries. Albeit the
Parliament is in final stages of passing the long-
awaited Wage Bill, delays have been related to
debates and technical estimations of the financial
implication of the law.
Public service unions, including medical staff and
teachers, are able to negotiate salaries and
employment terms for members. The government fixed
salaries for “essential government employees,” including
police, military, and management-level officials.
However, many of these government workers in
Uganda get as little as 250,000 Shillings (US$84),
which is about half of the minimum wage in Kenya.
Table 7: Wages and earnings, Monthly average and legal minimum wages
Current Ugandan Shilling
US$ Current
Average wages (2012)
459,639 184
Median Wage (2007)
140,000 82
Minimum wage (as of 1984) 6,000 2.7
Growth of real minimum wage (2000-2013)
-1.7 %
Growth of real average wage (2004-2012)
73 %
Growth of real average wage, % annual growth (2006-2012)
-0.7 %
Sources: ILO, Global Wage Database 2014/15; U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015
Figure 2 below shows an increase on average earnings
in the country, including in real terms. However, the
inflation of consumer prices has ‘eaten’ some of these
increases; so far the real average earnings peaked at
400,000 Shillings (US$158) in 2012.
Figure 2: Average earnings in Uganda, Shillings and US$, 2004-2012
Source: ILO, Global Wage Database
According to the Equal Opportunities Commission, the
wage/salary disparity in Uganda could become a
cause of concern for the country’s efforts to keep its
best professionals at home. For a long period, brain
drain has affecting the economy. The neighboring
countries are benefitting from the best of Uganda’s
professionals, especially in the medical and education
fields.31
Regarding the working conditions, it has been
registered by sources that some employers resort to
sub-contracting and outsourcing services or hire workers
temporarily to avoid such agreements.32 In the same
fashion, most employers do not give employees written
contracts of employment, resulting in lack of job security
and union representation.
Violations of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
standards – just as standard wages and overtime pay –
is common in several sectors in Uganda, e.g. steel
fabrication factories, domestic work, and the informal
economy. The law also includes provisions for district
labour inspectors. However, the authorities are only
carrying out few labour inspections in practice due to
inadequate training, funding, and logistical support. In
addition, the inspectors are present in only 44 of the
112 districts. Overall, sources have argued that the
authorities do not effectively enforce the law.33
The government initiated in 2016 to prosecuted
institutions and workplaces that have failed to register
as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Based on a procedure, over 3,000 workplaces were
unregistered institutions such as shops, factories,
restaurants, petrol stations, construction road works,
offices, markets, printing and publishing companies,
government ministries, hotels, exploration companies
and mining facilities. Many failed to register before the
deadline, facing closure and prosecution.
The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS rose to 34% of the
population in the 1980s. Political will, donor support,
formation of various organizations to promote
awareness of the disease confronted the epidemic.
Today, the rate is 7%. The trade union movement has
been active in promoting awareness activities of OSH
and HIV/AIDS activities, e.g. support HIV/AIDS
workplace policy/strategy and include the theme in
CBAs.34 The National Policy on HIV/AIDS and the
World of Work from 2007 requires each employer
to formulate a sound HIV/AIDS policy. Also a heated
debate over an anti-gay law – and the general public
opinion being in support of the law – was considered a
125 127 139
173
145 134
150
124
158
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
500000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Mean nominal earningsReal mean nominal earningsReal mean nominal earnings (US$)
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 8
major setback for the fight against HIV/AIDS. However,
NOTU, with the support from ILO, recently launched a
standard CBA to mainstream and negotiate better
working conditions for people living with HIV/AIDS in
different sectors.
A view of the working conditions in Uganda is
presented in Table 8 below.
Table 8: Working Conditions in Uganda
Normal Weekly Hour Limit 48 hours
Overtime Limit Unspecified
Max. Weekly Hours Limit Unspecified
Min. Mandatory Overtime
premium/time off in Lieu of
Overtime Wages
One and half times of the
normal hourly rate if the
overtime is on the normal
working days
Min. Annual Leave 15 days
Duration of Maternity Leave
Benefits 60 working days
Amount of Maternity Leave
Benefits 10 weeks
Source of Maternity Leave
Benefits Employer
Source: ILO, Working Conditions Law Report 2012
WORKFORCE
The total population in Uganda is 38.3 million (2016
est.) out of which 17.2 million covers the labour force.
Around three-quarters of the population are below the
age of 30 years old. States differently, Uganda has
one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in
Africa, which is creating a high pressure on job creation.
In the employment-to-population ratio men are slightly
more economically active than women by 85% and
79%, respectively. It is interesting to register that
Uganda has a relatively much higher employment-to-
population ratio than the sub-Saharan Africa average
on all levels, but especially among youth (Table 9).
Table 9: Employment-to-population ratio in Rwanda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) 2016, Age and Sex distribution
Sex Age Uganda SSA
Total
Total 15+ 82 % 65 %
Youth 15-24 71 % 48 %
Adult 25+ 89 % 74 %
Men Total 15+ 85 % 71 %
Youth 15-24 72 % 51 %
Adult 25+ 93 % 82 %
Women
Total 15+ 79 % 59 %
Youth 15-24 70 % 45 %
Adult 25+ 85 % 66 %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
The total labour force participation rate in Uganda
shows an increasing trend from 76% in 2005 to 85% in
2016. Also the youth has experienced a fast rise from
61% to 76%, respectively. As already indicated, the
country’s participation rates remain much higher than
the sub-Saharan Africa average. The latter has been on
a flat growth at 70% and 54%, respectively (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Labour force participation rate in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1995-2016, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Inactivity
Uganda has a relatively lower inactivity rate which is
estimated at 15% of the total working-age population
(15+) and one out of four (24%) of the youth
population (15-24 years old) in 2016. Women have
marginally higher inactivity rates on all levels (Table
10).
Table 10: Inactivity Rate in Uganda, 2016
Total Men Women
Inactivity rate 15 % 12 % 18 %
Inactivity rate,
youth 24 % 23 % 26 %
Note: The inactivity rate is a measure of the proportion of a country’s
working-age population that is not engaged actively in the labour
market, either by working or looking for work.
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
Total - Uganda Youth - Uganda
Total - SSA Total - SSA
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 9
Qualification skills mismatch
The discrepancy between the qualifications held by
workers and those required by their job, which is called
qualification skills mismatch, was estimated quite high in
Uganda. For example, the skills mismatches are
affected by under-education (73%) and women have a
higher incidence (77%) than men (69%). Over-
education is not a critic issues in Uganda (Table 11).
Table 11: Skills mismatches between job requirements and qualifications in Uganda 2013, by sexes and age group 15-29 years old, %
Total Male Women
Incidence of over-education
3.4 % 4.1 % 2.7 %
Incidence of under-education
73 % 69 % 77 %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Unemployment
Unemployment is statistically not common in Uganda.
Estimations of both the unemployment and youth
unemployment rates have been estimated at 3.5% and
5.8% in 2016, respectively. There are some gender
gaps with women slightly more unemployed than men.
In addition, the time-related underemployment is
relatively low at 10% (Table 12). With this in mind, the
incidence of long-term unemployment is actually high at
29% (i.e. those unemployed one year or more as a
percentage of the total unemployed). The share of
youth unemployed in total unemployed is 58%, which
indicates that the youth have special difficulties finding
a job on the labour market.
Table 12: Unemployment, youth unemployment and underemployment in Uganda 2016, sex and %
Region Unemployment Youth
unemployment
Under-employment*)
(2013)
Total 3.5 % 5.8 % 10 %
Men 3.0 % 5.4 % 11 %
Women 4.0 % 6.1 % 8.7 %
*) This is measured as time-related underemployment as a percentage of
total employment.
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Overall, Uganda has a much lower unemployment rates
than the sub-Saharan Africa averages. It is also
noteworthy to mention that the total unemployment and
youth unemployment rates have experienced
decreasing rates since 2013 (Figure 4). This is most
likely related to the growing enrolment rates in the
secondary and tertiary education levels as well as
working activities on the informal economy.
Figure 4: Unemployment trends in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 2007-2016, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Interpretation of the open-unemployment and
employment rates as indicators of a well-functioning
labour market is problematic in developing countries.
When unemployment is not an option where a person
can survive, work of some sort has to be found, often
casual and informal work. Unemployment should
therefore be understood in relation to the strength of
social safety nets, the prevalence of informal
employment and how much of informal employment is
underemployment due to few formal employment
possibilities.35
In practice, the scarcity of job opportunities has led to
rural-urban migration, high competition in the labour
market and the emergence of a bulging
underemployed and unproductive work force.
Additionally, livelihoods in Uganda are often
characterized by informality, which disproportionally
affect the youth (see also the section: Informal
Economy). A stronger focus on job creation is on a rise.
Among others, the National Employment Policy for
Uganda from 2011 called youth employment as a
policy priority action area.36 The implementation of the
employment policy has moved slowly, though.
A program named “Skilling Uganda” to address
unemployment attempts to streamline skills development
efforts by bringing stakeholders together, e.g. trade
unions, FUE, Private Sector Foundation and Uganda
Manufactures Association, among others.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total - Uganda Youth - Uganda
Total - SSA Youth - SSA
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 10
Sectoral Employment
Uganda’s employment has significant difference in the
numbers of employed per sector and in the gender
distribution. First of all, the agricultural sector covers
11.6 million workers which constitute 74% of the total
sector employment share. This sector is slightly
dominated by women by 54%. Secondly, in the trade
and the restaurant/hotels sector around 1.5 million
workers are in employment, which is 9.4% of the total
employment and 46% are men. That sector is followed
by the manufacturing sector that includes 780,000
workers with a sector employment share at 4.9% and
slightly dominated by men (55%). The public sector is
the fourth largest sector with 716,000 workers with
4.5% of the total employment. This latter sector is
basically shared equally between men and women.
More sector employment data are available in Table
13.
Table 13: Total sector employment, sector employment share and ratio of men in sector employment in Uganda, 2009
Sector Total sector employment
Sector employment
share, %
Ratio of men in sector
employment, %
Agriculture 11,634,330 74 % 46 %
Mining & quarrying
48,622 0.3 % 73 %
Manufacturing 779,993 4.9 % 55 %
Electricity, gas & water
19,061 0.1 % 76 %
Construction 269,893 1.7 % 97 %
Trade, restaurants & hotels
1,483,994 9.4 % 46 %
Transport, storage & communication
317,280 2.0 % 98 %
Finance, real estate & business services
36,707 0.2 % 51 %
Public administration, education and health
715,490 4.5 % 51 %
Other sources * 462,372 2.9 % 44 %
Total 15,767,742 100 % 49 %
* Other sources - Arts, entertainment and recreation; Other service
activities; Activities of households as employers, undifferentiated
goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use;
and Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies.
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Despite the agricultural sector is employing 74% of the
total employed workers, this sector creates relatively
low by 27% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). One
reason is that a vast majority of agricultural workers
lack a qualified education; access to capital and a low
labour productivity.
Several compelling estimations show that the very
narrow finance sector with 0.2% of the total
employment share has an extremely high GDP share by
workers at US$88,262 per worker per year, according
to the available data. In contrast, workers in the
agricultural sector produce US$627 per worker per
year. The public sector has also a low GDP share per
workers by US$755 per worker per year. It can be
seen that the manufacturing as well as the trade and
hotel/restaurant sectors have relatively low GDP share
by sector per worker. This signals that Uganda is
suffering from a shortage of skilled labour, including
accountants, lawyers, engineers, and technicians. More
information is available on Table 14.
Table 14: GDP share by sector, 2014, % and per worker
Sector GDP share
by sector, %
GDP share by sector per
worker, US$
Agriculture 27 % 627
Mining & quarrying 0.8 % 4,442
Manufacturing 10 % 3,461
Electricity, gas & water 2.8 % 39,660
Construction 8.4 % 8,403
Trade, restaurants & hotels
17 % 3,093
Transport, storage & communication
6.6 % 5,616
Finance, real estate & business services
12 % 88,262
Public administration, education and health
2.0 % 755
Other sources * 12 % 7,007
Note: GDP share by sector per worker is calculated by the total GDP
(current US$) divided by GDP share per sector origin which is divided
in number of workers per sector.
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition;
and African Economic Outlook 2016, Uganda
To point out, Uganda has experienced an increasing
employment share in the agricultural sector from 66% in
2002 to 72% in 2013. The industry sector has declined
from 7% to 4% and the service sector from 22% to
20%, respectively (Figure 5).
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 11
Figure 5: Employment by aggregate sector in Uganda, 2002-2013, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
It has also been registered that the group of wage and
salaried workers has been on a rising trend of the total
employment from 14% in 2002 to 20% in 2013. Own-
account workers remain the largest group with 52% of
the total employment while the contributing family
workers at 27%, both have been on declining trends
(Figure 6).
Figure 6: Status in employment in Uganda, 2002-2013, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
The country’s agricultural sector share of the GDP
remains higher in comparison with the sub-Saharan
Africa average. This sector’s GDP share in Uganda fell
slightly from its peaking years 2009-2010 by 28% to
25% in 2015. On the other hand, the industry sector
share of GDP has been on a flat growth since 2009
and remains lower than the region average. Uganda
and the region have a similar GDP share in terms of the
service sector and following the same slowly increasing
trend (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Uganda’s sector share trend, % of GDP
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
Uganda’s labour productivity was growing steadily
during the 2000s, but when entering the 2010s it
stalled. The country remains with a lower labour
productivity in comparison with the sub-Saharan Africa
average and far below the World average. These
gaps do not appear to be reduced for many years
ahead, though (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Labour productivity trend, 2007-2016
Note: Labour productivity is defined as output per worker (i.e. GDP
constant 2011 international US$ in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP));
and indexed year 2000 (=100).
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Informal Economy
As many other sub-Saharan African countries, the
informal economy provides the vast majority of
employment in Uganda. This is related to that the
formal sector does not create sufficient new jobs to curb
the fast rising labour force. As a consequence, many
are forced to take up employment in the informal
economy, which is known by crowding out jobs in the
formal sector, low skilled, poorly remunerated,
66 69 72 74 72
7 8 5 7 4
22 24 23 19 20
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2002 2003 2005 2009 2013Agriculture Industry Services
14 15 18 20 0,3 0,3
0,5 1,2
54 59 51
52
32 26 29 27
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2002 2003 2005 2013
Wage & salaried workers EmployersOwn-account workers Contributing family workers
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Agriculture - Uganda Industry - Uganda
Services - Uganda Agriculture - SSA
Industry - SSA Services- SSA
137
142
145 146
153 153 151 151
153
156
125
130
135
140
145
150
155
160
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Uganda
Sub-Saharan Africa
World
Uganda Index year 2000 (=100)
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 12
hazardous and precarious jobs with almost no access to
social protection.37 As already mentioned, it also
absorbs many of the youth, while unemployment is not
an option. The coverage of employment in the informal
economy has been estimated at 94% of the total non-
agricultural employment (Table 15). This informality
includes lack of access to social security contribution and
enterprise’s registration status.
Table 15: Employment in the informal economy in Uganda, 2013, %
Share of persons in informal employment of total non-agricultural employment
94 %
Men 93 %
Women 95 %
Share of persons employed in the informal sector in total non-agricultural employment
60 %
Share of persons in informal employment outside the informal sector
14 %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
Other data from the latest Ugandan National
Household Budget Survey from 2009/10 found 3.5
million engaged in the informal 'sector' work and 2.1
million in non-agricultural, which is a drop at 19% points
since the survey from 2002/03. The survey also showed
that 13% of informal sector workers are paid
employees, 23% are unpaid helpers and 63% are
working proprietors (mainly subsistence farmers). It is
also noteworthy to mention that paid employees have
been on an increase in this period, which is in line with
the just presented status of employment (Figure 9 &
Figure 6).
Figure 9: Employment by Activity Status in Uganda 2002/03 - 2009/10, %
Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda National Household Survey, 2009/10
Figure 10 shows that women are slightly more in
informal non-agricultural employment than men with
71% and 64%, respectively. There is a notable
exception of agriculture, though, that favouring men.
The informal businesses are mostly present in the
agricultural and trade sectors then followed by food
processing and manufacturing.
Figure 10: Distribution of employees engaged in the informal economy in Uganda 2009-2010, Industry and Gender, %
Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda National Household
Survey, 2009/10
Ownership of businesses in Uganda is dominated by
very small enterprises. According to the mentioned
2009/10 survey, 94% of enterprises with legal
ownership have been registered as sole proprietorship
while only 5% are owned as partnership. There is a
challenge of the taxation of such informal small-size
micro-enterprises and the self-employment workers.
Such enterprises are under severe liquidity pressure just
as the system is weak due to cumbersome manual
process operated by the Revenue Authorities and/or
very insufficient awareness of the regulations.
Figure 11: Distribution of Informal Businesses by Industry 2009-2010, %
Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda National Household
Survey, 2009/10
69%
9%
22%
64%
13%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
WorkingProprietors
Paid Employees Unpaid Helpers
2002/03 2009/10
0%
20%
40%
60%
Male Female
27% 24%
15% 14%
9% 7%
3% 1% 1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 13
Especially the youth is caught in the informal economy.
First of all, the formal economy does simply not offer
sufficient jobs. Secondly, more than 80% of young
workers are associated with enterprises of less than five
workers and the majority of these firms are
unregistered. In practice, it is complicated to register a
starting a business (see more on Table 23).
In Uganda around 43% of organized young informal
workers are women and 57% are men. Other
estimation in terms of the distribution of young informal
workers by trade union membership by sex suggests
that 4.5% are men and 3.2% are women. This
relatively low enrolment in trade unions of youth from
the informal economy has frequently been related to
ignorance either about the existence of trade unions or
about the role of trade unions, i.e. estimated by survey
at 73%. On the same token, the percentage of those
who do not join a labour union due to lack of interest is
assessed at 6.1%.38
Migration
Migration has various forms: internally (rural-urban),
internally displaced persons and internationally.
Regarding the latter, the country receives almost double
remittances as share of GDP than the sub-Saharan
Africa average; most of this is used for household
consumption. Uganda has also a relatively high
(negative) net migration ratio to migration to average
population by -1 out of 1,106 inhabitants, more than
double than the region (Table 16 & Figure 12). Uganda
is fully immersed in South–South migration dynamics
with cultural and tribal linkages and a strong pull factor
for migration within and outside Uganda with a
demand for both skilled and unskilled labour.
Table 16: Migration Facts
Net migration (2008-2012)
Uganda - 150,000
Net migration to average population per year (2008-2012)
Uganda - 1 : 1,106 inhabitants
Sub-Saharan Africa
- 1 : 2,589 inhabitants
Personal remittances received, % of GDP (2012-2015, average)
Uganda 3.7 %
Sub-Saharan Africa
2.2 %
Note: Net migration rate is the difference of immigrants and emigrants within five years. A positive value represents more people entering the country than leaving it, while a negative value means more people leaving than entering it. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
Figure 12: Net migration ratio to population in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2010
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
Uganda’s high population growth of 3.2% per annum
has been a driver of migration both internally rural-
urban and seeking jobs outside the borders. Regarding
the internal migration a rise in urban population from
5.4 million to 5.8 million between 2011 and 2012 was
registered. According to sources, a key point is that the
youth population is confronting challenges of ownership
of natural resources by the older generation. Stated
differently, the youth have limited or no access to
productive resources, which drives them to seek urban
employment opportunities or out of the country.39
There have been some improvements in recruitment and
support services in labour migration issues in Uganda.
Notwithstanding, based on a recent Labour Migration
Management Assessment, several problems are present:
i) high costs for migrant workers; ii) incomplete
supervision of recruitment agencies; iii) inadequate pre-
departure orientation; and iv) an absence of return and
reintegration measures.40
Trade unions in Uganda have only done limited on the
plight of migrant workers. However, they step in to talk
for them when they happen to learn that their rights are
violated. Their policies addressing internal displaced
persons are vague.41
Uganda and Kenya concluded in 2013 a bilateral
agreement to waive the work permit fees to allow for
free movement of labour between the two countries.
Moreover, the EAC commits Uganda to adopt measures
to facilitate the free movement of persons and labour
from the other five member states. In 2014 Uganda
pleaded to abolish work permit fees for all EAC
Citizens, to follow Rwanda and Kenya (see also the
sub-section: Trade Agreements).
-1040 -1106
-7681
-2589
-9000
-8000
-7000
-6000
-5000
-4000
-3000
-2000
-1000
0
2003-2007 2008-2012
Uganda Sub-Saharan Africa
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 14
Child Labour
Labour regulations regarding children are
contradictory, according to sources. First of all, the law
prohibits employers from hiring workers below age 18
and prohibits children under age 14 from being
employed, except in light work that does not interfere
with the child’s schooling. All children are prohibited
from being employed during school hours. Secondly, in
contrast the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social
Development (MGLSD) regulations permit the
employment of children between ages 14 and 18.
Children age 15 and older who have completed their
education may work up to seven hours per day, not to
exceed 35 hours per week.42
Children aged less than 18 years account for 58% of
the total population. The first comprehensive national
survey on child labour in Uganda from 2011/12 shows
that close to two out of five (39%) children are in
employment involved in economic activity and 16% are
child labourers (Table 17).
Table 17: Working children Proportion of all children in age group
Region Year Type Proportion
Uganda (age 5-17)
2010
Children in employment
51 %
Child labourers 25 %
2011/12
Children in employment *)
39 %
Child labourers 16 %
Hazardous work 25 %
Sub-Saharan Africa (age 5-17)
2008
Children in employment
28 %
Child labourers 25 %
Hazardous work 13 %
Note: Children in employment includes all children who conducts some kind of work or are involved in economic activity, whereas child labourers is a narrower term without mild forms of work. Hazardous work is the worst from of child labour as defined in ILO C182. *) Children in employment in age group 6-17 years old. Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda National Household Survey, 2009/10; ILO & UBOS, Children Labour Report, The National Labour Force and Children Activities Survey 2011/12, 2013; and ILO, Accelerating action against child labour, International Labour Conference, 99th Session 2010
Based on roughly comparisons from a household survey
from 2010, both children in employment and child
labourers were decreasing. This is related to the
increasing school enrolment trends. The former remains
higher than the sub-Saharan Africa average, while child
labourers is now lower. This could also be related to
Uganda's more updated data than the region average
(see table above).
MGLSD provides social services to children working in
the worst forms of child labour and other vulnerable
groups. The ministry also conducts training for staff,
local leaders, and district labour inspectors. Labour
officers are responsible for reporting on child labour
problems, but, as already mentioned, 68 out of 112
districts in the country do not have one.
Children's work is mainly in the agriculture sector which
accounts for about 93% of the total child workers. This
sector is known of the worst forms of child labour. The
Kampala district, which is wholly urban, has the highest
percentage of child workers engaged in the service
industry within the informal economy at 79%. Working
children put in an average of 19 hours of work per
week in economic activities.43
The Government approved and launched the National
Action Plan for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labor (2012/13-2016/17) (NAP). Gaps in the
legal framework persist, such as between compulsory
education and minimum working ages.44
Gender
According to the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI)
2016, Uganda is ranking 61 out of 144 countries (1 is
highest). This GGGI focuses on measuring gaps rather
than levels; gaps in outcome variables rather than gaps
in input variables; and ranks countries according to
gender equality rather than women’s empowerment.
The country scores high (37) in terms of political
empowerment while the economic participation (87)
and education attainment (120) is scoring much less.45
As mentioned, access to economic opportunities
continues to sustain disparities. One issue is that women
are still getting married at an early age. Nevertheless,
trends in age-at-first marriage have somewhat changed
since 1995. This can partly be due to the
implementation of universal primary education.
However, problems still exist. For instance, a majority of
girls are still out of school due to pregnancy.
In this report, it was illustrated that men and women
have a very close share of employment in Uganda, i.e.
49% and 51%, respectively. But per sector there are
divergences, especially the industry sector is dominated
by men. Women have a higher employment ratio in
total employment than men in the agricultural sector
(Table 13). However, the divergent land tenure system
and overlapping land rights are affecting women, e.g.
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 15
many women landless farmers cannot easily access
land.46 As a proxy measurement, this situation can also
be shown by the low number of firms with women’s
participation in ownership in Uganda (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Women in firms’ top management and ownership, 2013
Source: World Bank, Enterprise Survey, Uganda 2013 Country Profile
Captivating data also show that while men experienced
a rapid decrease on own-account workers from 60% in
2003 to 49% in 2013, it increased for women from
49% to 55%. In contrast, women as contributing family
workers fell from 43% to 30% while it rose from 20%
to 23% for men. These trends suggest that more women
are becoming more self-employed, while more men are
becoming unpaid family workers. Men are still hovering
above women in terms of wage and salaried workers
(Figure 14).
Figure 14: Status in employment in Uganda, 2002-2013, by sex, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
There is a need for increasing gender equity in trade
union membership and leadership levels. Affiliated
membership through NOTU recently reached an overall
equality of 32 elected positions, i.e. 17 were women
(53%) and 15 were men (47%).47 On the same token,
NOTU is collaborating with the Trade Union
Confederation for the East African Community (EATUC)
to promote gender equality, both within the labour
movement and in Uganda.48
Youth
It is estimated that Uganda has 78% of its population
below the ages of 30 years old making it one of the
world’s youngest populations. A majority of youth
employment exists in the agricultural sector. Less than
5% of those are in wage-paying jobs and the majority
is engaged as subsistence family workers with no wages
accruing to them. Similarly, informal employment
accounts for the highest proportion of employed youths
outside agriculture. During the last decade, the youth
participation rate has experienced a fast rise from
61% in 2005 to 76% in 2016, respectively; and the
increase has been slightly faster for men than women.
Uganda’s faster youth participation evolution by both
sexes is in contrast with the sub-Saharan Africa
average that has stayed on a flat growth during the
last decade (Figure 15).
Figure 15: Youth labour force participation rate in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1995-2016, by sex, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
As shown the standard estimation of youth
unemployment is low in Uganda. However, a more
'relaxed' version has estimated it at 10%.49 Urban
youth are more likely to be unemployed (12%) than
rural youth (3%). In addition, women youth are twice as
likely to be unemployed compared to men youth.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Firms with women topmanager
Firms with womenparticipation in
ownershipUganda SSA Low income
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
2002 2003 2013
Wage & salaried workers . Men
Own-account workers - Men
Contributing family workers - Men
Wage & salaried workers - Women
Own-account workers - Women
Contributing family workers - Women
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
Uganda - Men Uganda - Women
SSA - Men SSA - Women
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 16
Generally the low measured unemployment figures do
not signify a healthy labour market. First of all, the
youth unemployment is frequently related to the lack of
employable skills; limited access to resources like land
and capital; insufficient job creating in the formal
sector; and most jobs are in the informal economy with
some of the worst working conditions. .
There has also been noted that young people
frequently have a negative attitude towards certain
types of work, which has also contributed to their
inability to find gainful employment. Besides, existing
policies also continue focusing on creating job seekers
instead of job creators.50 The government has put in
place a program to reduce unemployment, especially
among the youth, which includes the recent Youth
Livelihood Program.51
EDUCATION
The population age group 25+ in Uganda has an
average of 4.7 years of schooling and 21% of the
population aged 15 and above has no schooling. There
are deep gaps between males and females; for
example, the no schooling rate was estimated at 12%
and 29%, respectively. As mentioned, many young
women leave the school system in an early age because
they get pregnant, which is exemplified in their low
completion of schooling (Table 18). .
Table 18: Highest level attained and years of schooling in the population 2010, Population 25+, Male & female, % of population
Highest Level Attained Male Female
No Schooling 12 % 29 %
Primary Begun 53 % 48 %
Completed 14 % 8.5 %
Secondary Begun 31 % 21 %
Completed 9.1 % 6.0 %
Tertiary Begun 3.8 % 1.9 %
Completed 2.5 % 1.4 %
Average year of total schooling
6.3 4.5
Note: Primary, secondary and tertiary is the internationally defined distinction of education. In Denmark these corresponds to grundskole, gymnasium & university.
Source: Barro, Robert and Jong-Wha Lee, April 2010, "A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950-2010." NBER Working Paper No. 15902
The government has implemented free Universal
Primary Education since 1997. It signals the high
enrolment in schooling in Uganda. The net enrolment in
primary education is very high in comparison with the
region average, including with the high prevalence of
child labour in Uganda in mind. The large number of
children enrolled in primary education did decrease the
quality of education, as resources and teachers did not
grow as fast as enrolment. Enrolments in secondary and
tertiary educations are lower than the sub-Saharan
Africa averages (Figure 16).
Figure 16: School levels and Enrolment 2004-2013, Males and females, Uganda & sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), %
Note: Net enrolment is the ratio of children of official school age, who
are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official
school age. Gross enrolment is the ratio of total enrolment, regardless
of age, to the population of the corresponding official school age.
Gross enrolment can therefore be higher than 100%, but with tertiary
or university education, the age of the pupils is more diverse.
Source: World Bank, Education Statistics
50
60
70
80
90
100Net Enrolment in Primary School
Uganda -Males
Uganda -Females
SSA -Males
SSA -Males
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40Net Enrolment in Secondary School
Uganda -Males
Uganda -Females
SSA -Males
SSA -Females
0
2
4
6
8
10
12Gross Enrolment in Tertiary School
Uganda -Male
Uganda -Females
SSA -Males
SSA -Females
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 17
Based on a recent study, university education in Uganda
has some relatively positive impact on trade union
membership since one could expect that awareness and
access to information increases with further education.52
Vocational training
The enrolment in vocational training in Uganda is
relatively low. As an example, the ratio of pupils in
vocational student to all pupils in secondary education
has been estimated at 3.5% in comparison with 6.2% in
the sub-Saharan Africa average. In addition, women
have a lower participation in vocational training than
the region average, i.e. 30% and 39%, respectively
(Table 19).
Table 19: Status of vocational training
Pupils in vocational training (2010)
Uganda 39,250
Vocational pupils (% women) (2010)
Uganda 30 %
SSA 39 %
Ratio of pupils in vocational student to all pupils in secondary education (Average 2008-2010)
Uganda 3.5 %
SSA 6.2 %
Ratio of pupils in vocational training out of 15-24 year olds (Average 2008-2010)
Uganda 0.6 %
SSA 1.6 %
Source: World Bank, Education Statistics
The ratio of vocational students to all pupils in
secondary education has experienced a declining
trend. This is related to a decreasing number of pupils
in vocational training as well as the increasing
enrolment in secondary schooling (Figure 17).
Figure 17: Vocational training trends 2000-2010, Ratios (%) and pupils in vocational training
Source: World Bank, Education Statistics
The Business, Technical, Vocational Education and
Training (BTVET) Act from 2008 was put in place to
address the redundancy of the different institutions for
vocational training. Most vocational programs are
oriented towards pre-employment, supply-driven and
targeting towards modern sector needs. Based on the
Government’s estimations, 20% of the spaces for
vocational training are reserved to children withdrawn
from child labour.53
The National Employment Policy targets on three
objectives in terms of the challenges of vocational
training are: i) matching supply to demand for skills, ii)
helping workers and enterprises adjust to change, and
iii) forecasting as well as delivering the new wider skills
that will be needed in the future.54
The BTVET system has led to the equitable distribution
of vocational and skills training centers. However, it has
been noted that the sector has been ineffective and
falls short on several aspects: i) government funding to
this sector is very minimal; ii) an absence of sufficient
training and practice facilities/equipment makes it
extremely hard for the students to attain the best form
of training and experience required; and iii) the
purchase of the equipment to facilitate the work in the
sector is very expensive and cannot be secured by the
people pursuing this training.55 Sources have also
argued that the vocational training system is not in line
with in-employment models and the character of the
economy and labour market.56 NOTU is lobbying
government to include vocational training into the new
employment policy.
It is estimated that 35% of firms are offering formal
training programs for their permanent, full-time
employees.57 However, few wage and salaried workers
have permanent employment status and even fewer
benefit from programs of in-employment training
provided by their employers. Not to mention, as shown,
a large majority of workers in employment operate in
the informal economy and their enterprises cannot
afford to offer long-term vocational training schemes.
Based on funding from World Bank, Uganda is
currently running a program named “Skilling Uganda”
aiming at streamlining skills development initiatives and
efforts by bringing all stakeholders together. This
program is expected to be turned into an authority for
skills development. NOTU is represented on the Board
and advocate for Skilling Uganda to address the lack
of technical skills. It has a focus on university education
by bringing on board vocational training, educating
people to be self-employed and increasing skills in
informal economy as there is lack of jobs in the formal
0
20000
40000
60000
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Ratio of pupils in vocational training vs. secondary education (%) - Uganda
Ratio of pupils in vocational training vs secondary pupils (%) - SSA
Pupils in vocational training - Uganda
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 18
sector. There are vocational training centres in every
district (offering two years education programs).
SOCIAL PROTECTION
The social security schemes in Uganda consist of
contributory and/or compulsory social insurance for
formal workers. These are known as the National Social
Security Fund (NSSF) and the Public Service Pension
Schemes (PSPS) that especially target all public
servants. Other smaller schemes are present. The current
social security schemes exclude employees from the
informal sector.58 However, there have been some plans
to introduce a nationwide Social Health Insurance
scheme (SHI), which would also cover workers from the
informal economy.
Microfinance insurance schemes are an option for
informal economy workers, they are privately run
through either micro-finance institutions or health-care
providers, and delivers mainly accident and health
insurance. So far they have achieved little coverage.59
Some of the weaknesses in the social protection system
can be exemplified in data. First of all, Uganda lags
behind the sub-Saharan Africa average in many
aspects of the system, e.g. the total social protection has
been estimated at 3.5% of GDP while it is 4.3% in the
region average. Likewise the health social protection
coverage is extremely low at 2.0% of the population in
comparison with the Africa average at 25% (Table 20).
Table 20: Public spending on social protection schemes, 2011
Indicator Measure Uganda SSA
Total social
protection
expenditure
% of GDP 3.5 % 4.3 %
Public health care
expenditure % of GDP 2.3 % 2.6 %
Health social
protection coverage
% of total
population 2.0 % 25 %*
Trends in government
expenditure in health
% change per
year 12 % N/a
* The average covers the entire Africa region.
Source: ILO, Social Protection, Statistics and indicators
In terms of total health-care expenditure not financed
by private household’s out-of-pocket payments,
Uganda has the lowest measurement at 52% in
comparison with the neighbouring East African countries.
The trend has slowly increased during the 2000s and
getting closer to Kenya’s rate that was estimated at
54% (Figure 18).
Figure 18: Health-care expenditure not financed by private household's out-of-pocket payments, 1995-2011, %
Source: ILO, Addressing the Global Health Crisis: Universal Health
Protection Policies, 2014
The NSSF is a main contributory social protection
scheme for old-age pension, disability, survivors and
work injury, for workers employed in the formal sector,
excluding self-employed. The scheme is mandatory for
firms with more than five employees, and voluntary for
smaller firms. Apart from work injury, 5% of salary is
paid by the employee and 10% by employer. The
NSSF was reformed in 2010 to increase coverage,
contribution and reduce administration costs. As of June
2011, NSSF had a membership of equivalent at 1.3%
of the population. It is therefore a very limited
coverage.60
As already mentioned, Uganda has also a limited
system of contributory social protection mechanisms for
formal salaried or self-employed workers. The system is
granting access medical care, old-age pension,
disability, maternity, and paid leave. As an example,
the coverage of the proportion of total pensionable
age receiving an old age pension was estimated at
6.6% in comparison with the Africa average at 22%.
This gap is similar among the active contributors to old
age effective coverage that was assessed at 4.6% and
the sub-Saharan Africa average at 8.4% (see also
Table 21). It is interesting to note that more women are
contributors to old age effective coverage than men at
5.1% and 4.1%, respectively.
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Burundi Kenya Rwanda
Tanzania Uganda
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 19
Table 21: Pension Benefits, Coverage and Contributions in Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), %
Theme Measure Uganda SSA
Social benefits for active
age (2010) % of GDP 0.4 % 0.3 %
Pensionable age
receiving an old age
pension (age 55+)
(2012)
Proportion
of total 6.6 % 22 %*
Active contributors to a
pension scheme (2007) 15+ 4.6 % 8.4 %
Active contributors to a
pension scheme (2007)
15-64
years 3.8 % 5.9 %
Note: Years are from Uganda and years from SSA are the latest.
* The average covers the entire Africa region, which is most likely to
be higher than the SSA average.
Source: ILO, Social Protection, Statistics and indicators
A very controversial draft Retirement Benefits Sector
Liberalisation Bill 2011 had been presented to the
Parliament. It entailed a number of reforms, which had
some criticised loopholes. The trade union movement
presented position papers outlining the negative impact
on workers position of the proposed social security
liberalization. Through lobby and advocacy, the trade
unions succeeded to have the proposed pension
liberalization bill detailed and was given the chance to
come up with a draft alternative Pension Reform Act to
amend the NSSF bill (Modernization of NSSF, inclusion
of informal sector, increase number of benefits from 3
to 9 etc.). However, during the parliamentary session in
October 2014, it was decided to withdraw the Social
Security Liberalization bill till until further notice.
The Expanding Social Protection Program’s (ESP)
purpose is to embed a national social protection system
that benefits the poorest people among the population.
Among others, there are implemented two pilot
schemes: i) The Senior Citizens Grants and the
Vulnerable Family Grants. Under the Senior Citizens
Grants, older persons 65 years of age and above (but
60 years in the case of Karamoja region) receive
23,000 shillings (US$8) per month; and ii) the
Vulnerable Family Grants are paid out to households
with low labour capacity owing to age, physical
disability. These schemes are currently being piloted in
14 districts in the country.61
GENERAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
Uganda is a relatively small country, landlocked
economy and as demonstrated the private sector is still
largely informal. The country’s economy grew fast
during the last decades. For example, the GDP real
growth was estimated at 6.8% on average in the last
decade, which is higher than the sub-Saharan Africa
average at 4.8% (see more facts on Table 22).
Table 22: Key Facts on General Economic Performance in Uganda, 2015
GDP 26.4 billion US$
GDP real growth 5.0 %
Doing Business * (2016) +1 change in rank
116 of 190 countries
HDI ** -2 change in rank
163 of 188 countries
Gini Index *** (2012) 41.0
66 of 145 countries
* A high ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index means the
regulatory environment is more conducive to the start-up and
operation of a local firm.62
** The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the average of a
long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of
living. HDI ranking change in the period 2009-2014.
*** A Gini coefficient of 1 (or 100 percent) expresses maximal
inequality among values. This Gini Index ranks the first country with
the highest inequality while the number 145 has the highest equality.
Source: CIA, The World Factbook, Uganda; World Bank, World
Development Indicators; World Bank & IFC, Ease of Doing Business
2015/2016 in Uganda; and UNDP, Human Development Index
trends
Despite the high population growth at 3% per annum,
the GDP per capita growth has stayed on a relatively
high rate at 3.3% on average during the last decade
but with a declining, volatile trend (Figure 19).
Figure 19: GDP per capita real growth 2006-2015, Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), %
Source:World Bank, World Development Indicators;
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Uganda SSA
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 20
The country is still one of the poorest countries in the
world. In terms of the GDP per capita measured in
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), Uganda is far below the
sub-Saharan Africa average and with a ranking as 202
out of 229 countries (1 is highest). On the other hand,
according to the Gini Index, the inequality in the
distribution of family income has experienced a
reduction from 44% in 2009 to 41% in 2012. This has
been related to the increasing average earnings in
Uganda and the slowly evolution of the wage and
salaried workers (revisit Figure 2 & Figure 6). Uganda
stays on a low-medium level of inequality at 66 out of
145 countries, ranking next to Burkina Faso and Guinea
(Table 22 & Figure 20).
Figure 20: GDP per capita (PPP) growth in US$ and Gini Index (%)
Note: A Gini coefficient of 1 (or 100 percent) expresses maximal
inequality among values.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
The number of extreme working poor (>US$1.9 per
day) in Uganda has experienced a massive fall from
62% in 2002 to 22% in 2012. The number of
moderately working poor (≥US$1.90 & <US$3.10)
experienced an evolution from 19% in 2002 to 39% in
2012. Overall, the working poor living below US$3.1
per day have experienced a fall and the trends are
now below the sub-Saharan Africa averages (Figure
21).
Figure 21: Working poor trends, 1992-2012, %
Note: ‘Working poor’ is the proportion of persons living with their
families below the poverty line in line with the full distribution of
employment across economic classes.
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
These positive poverty reductions changes in Uganda
have also been registered by a growing middle-class.
For example, the lower middle-class (US$3.1-5 per
day) increased from 10% in 2002 to 24% in 2012 and
the higher middle-class (US$5-13 per day) also
increased from 7% to 14%, respectively. Uganda’s
middle-class population is now also superseding the
region average trends (Figure 22).
Figure 22: Middle-class trends, 1992-2012, %
Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition
The inflation in consumer prices has been quite high
during the last decade, which was related to the
43,0
44,0
41,0
39,5
40,0
40,5
41,0
41,5
42,0
42,5
43,0
43,5
44,0
44,5
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Uganda - GINI Index Uganda SSA
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1992 1996 1999 2002 2005 2009 2012
Uganda - US$1.9 Uganda - US$3.1
SSA - US$1.9 SSA - US$3.1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1992 1996 1999 2002 2005 2009 2012
Uganda - US$3.1-5 Uganda - US$5-13
SSA - US$3.1-5 SSA - US$5-13
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 21
volatility of the depreciation of the currency against the
US dollar. However, in recent years the inflation has
been curbed at around 5%.
Figure 23: Inflation in consumer prices, 2006-2015, %
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
Oil discoveries and increasing commercial interest in
Uganda have bolstered the country's economic
prospects. The capital formation in Uganda has been
growing steadily since 2006. The rate peaked by 28%
of GDP in 2013, but fell to 20% in 2015. This drop has
been related to some uncertain global financial
conditions, such as the strengthening of the US dollar
and the drop of the oil prices. The country’s capital
formation remains significantly higher than the region
average, but the capital formation downturn is in
contrast with the region’s steady increase (Figure 24).
Figure 24: Gross Fixed Capital Formation, 2006-2015, % of GDP
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
The Doing Business Index placed Uganda on a ranking
116 out of 190 countries in 2016. Improvement were
mainly in getting credit in the period from 2015 to
2016. Afterwards few improvements have been
registered and some decreases have been noted.
Uganda is scoring on a higher level on the index than
the sub-Saharan Africa average, i.e. 58 in Uganda vs.
50 in the region (0 represents the worst performance
and 100 the frontier). The country scores lower than
Rwanda (56) and Kenya (92), but higher than Tanzania
(132), Malawi (135) and Burundi (157).
First of all, getting electricity is not easy (168 out of
190 countries); and it remains especially cumbersome to
formalizing starting a business (162) and dealing with
construction permits (153). In contrast, getting credit
(42), enforcing contracts (63) and paying taxes (76)
have some higher positive rankings (see more on Table
23).
Table 23: Uganda’s Ease of Doing Business
Topics 2017 2016 Change
Starting a Business 165 162 3
Dealing with Construction Permits 151 153 2
Getting Electricity 161 168 7
Registering Property 116 118 2
Getting Credit 44 42 2
Protecting Miniority Investors 106 101 5
Paying Taxes 75 76 1
Trading Across Borders 136 141 5
Enforcing Contracts 64 63 1
Resolving Insolvency 111 104 7
Note: The Doing Business 2017 indicators are ranking from 1 (top) to 190 (bottom) among other countries. The rankings tell much about the business environment, but do not measure all aspects of the business surroundings that matter to firms and investors or that affects the competitiveness of the economy. Still, a high ranking does mean that the government has created a regulatory environment conducive to operating a business. Note: This Index has been controversial due to flawed data, especially in terms of labour market flexibility and undervalued paying taxes. However, the table below can still be used as indicative measurement with reservations.63 Source: World Bank & IFC, Ease of Doing Business 2016 in Uganda
Uganda remains generally peaceful and politically
stable. The country held presidential and parliamentary
elections on 18 February 2016. Yoweri Museveni and
the National Resistance Movement (NRM) were re-
elected with a 68% majority. Museveni has already
been Uganda’s president for 30 years.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Uganda Sub-Saharan Africa
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Uganda Sub-Saharan Africa
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 22
Overall, the governance environment in Uganda has
been with some small mixed results in the period from
2010 to 2015. First of all, the political stability
improved slightly from 16% in 2010 to 20% in 2015,
but remains on a low ranking. The government
effectiveness has basically been on a status quo staying
on a lower medium-level. Some minor drops were noted
on the other four other indicators, i.e. voice &
accountability, regulatory quality, rule of law, and
control of corruption. The control of corruption maintains
scoring low at 12%, while the others on a lower
medium-level (see more on Table 24).
Table 24: Uganda's Governance Indicators, 2010-2015
Indicator 2010 2015 Change
Voice &
Accountability -0.50 / 32% -0.59 / 29%
Political Stability -1.00 / 16% -0.86 / 20%
Government
Effectiveness -0.52 / 37% -0.48 / 37%
Regulatory
Quality -0.15 / 47% -0.24 / 46%
Rule of Law -0.39 / 43% -0.34 / 43%
Control of
Corruption -0.90 / 19% -1.05 / 12%
Note: The Governance Indicators score from ‐2.5 to 2.5 while the
percentiles rank from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest).64
Source: World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators
TRADE
As shown in this profile, Uganda’s economy remains
predominantly agricultural with a small industrial sector.
The country is dependent on imported inputs like oil and
equipment. A hurdle to industrial production is the cost
of doing business.
The oil production in Uganda has many aspirations,
among others oil revenues and taxes are expected to
become a larger source of government funding during
the next five to ten years. Sources have observed that
lower oil prices since 2014 and protracted negotiations
and legal disputes between the Ugandan government
and oil companies may prove a challenge to further
exploration and development.65
Foreign trade in Uganda has experienced some
downturns during the recent years both in terms of
exports and imports. The country has a deep trade
deficit (Table 25).
Table 25: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), 2015
Exports Imports FDI flow FDI Stock (2013)
4.6 billion US$
7.8 billion US$
1.5 billion US$
8.8 billion US$
17 % of GDP
29 % of GDP
4.0% of GDP 34% of
GDP Source: CIA, The World Factbook, Uganda; World Bank, World
Development Indicators
The export in Uganda is much lower than the sub-
Saharan Africa average while the import has been
more in line, except with an increasing gap in recent
years (Figure 25). The instability in South Sudan has
disrupting some of Uganda's main export market.
Equally important the country is landlocked and
transport costs can make up 50%-75% of the retail
price of products in Uganda, which is a hindrance on
trade.66 Uganda together with Kenya and Rwanda
formed the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” within
the EAC for fast-tracking the regional integration.
Among others, the three countries have agreed on
major infrastructure projects including the Northern
Corridor Project (High Gauge railway) from the port of
Mombassa to Uganda and Rwanda.
The foreign direct investments have been quite high in
comparison with the region average. This has
contributing to the high economic development and
growth (Figure 25).
Figure 25: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment trends 2006-2015, Uganda and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), % of GDP
Source:World Bank, World Development Indicators
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Uganda - Export Uganda - Import
Uganda - FDI SSA - Export
SSA - Import SSA - FDI
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 23
Most of Uganda’s exports are still in agricultural
products. Figure 26 shows that products are relatively
diverse, with a notable share of coffee (20%) and raw
tobacco (6%). The commercial oil production export has
still not been registered as one of the country’s main
export products. Some smaller volumes of oil could be
produced from 2016 to generate energy for domestic
consumption. A refinery and a pipeline is expected to
be ready by 2017 to commercial oil production.
Figure 26: Uganda's main products share of exports, 2014
Source: MIT, The Observatory of Economic complexity,
Uganda
Uganda’s main export market is the European Union
(EU) (26%) as well as several to its neighbours Kenya
(10%), Rwanda (11%) and Congo (10%); and the
United Arab Emirates (10%) and China (4%) (Figure
27).
Figure 27: Uganda's main export markets, 2015
Source: European Commission, DG TRADE, Bilateral Relations, Statistics
Trade Agreements
Uganda is part of the EAC's free trade agreement from
1999 contains a labour provision with cooperation on
employment and working conditions. Likewise, the
labour provision of the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (COMESA) agreement extends to
cooperation on employment conditions and labour
law.67 Uganda is also part of the 2000 Cotonou
Agreement between EU and African, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) countries, which reaffirms commitment to
ILO’s Fundamental Conventions and includes a labour
provision on cooperation on various labour and social
issues.
In 2005, the members of the EAC established a customs
union and in 2010 the EAC agreed to establish full
common market with free movement for workers, goods,
services, and capital.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining is
enshrined in the EAC common market in the sense that
an EAC migrant worker has equal rights as a national.68
The free movement of labour within the EAC opens up
questions of how to achieve equal opportunities and
equal social and labour rights for migrant workers, for
example if workers can bring pensions with them across
borders. On the other hand, the free movement of
labour is also a source of concern in some of the EAC
countries, as the countries workforces have differences
in productivity and educational level. However, the
actual implementation of the economic integration have
slowed down the last few years, especially with
regards to lifting barriers to trade and free movement
of labour. Although formal tariffs are increasing
abolished, trade is still challenged by non-tariff
barriers and corruption.
The objective of the East African trade union movement
is to safeguard workers’ interests in the EAC, ensure that
ILO standards are upheld and member states’ labour
policies are harmonized and the tripartite model is
institutionalized, while the free movement of labour is
promoted. The trade union movement has reached
observer status in the EAC in 2009, and along with
employers’ organizations they participate in ministerial
summits, sectoral summits, and other summits that involve
labour market issues. However, the Social Agenda is
moving slow in the EAC and no meetings have been
convened in the Council of Ministers responsible for
labour for the last 3-4 years.
Coffee; 20%
Raw tobanno;
6%
Fish fillets; 4%
Tea; 4%
Cement; 4%
Other oily seeds;
3%
Others; 59%
EU 28; 26%
Kenya; 10%
Rwanda; 11% Congo,
DRC; 10%
U.A. Emirates;
10%
China; 4%
Others; 30%
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 24
Another issue is that the full implementation of
migration-related East African Community Protocols
could lead to an increase in the number of Ugandans
living in East African States. On the same token, it could
diminishing immigration and lead to an increase in the
foreign-born population in Uganda.
Through the EAC, Uganda could export duty and quota
free to the European Union (EU) since 2008. The country
will have to gradually remove duties and quotas from
EU exports to Uganda on most products, except the
products deemed to need protection from EU imports.
These include agricultural products, wines and spirits,
chemicals, plastics, wood based paper, textiles and
clothing.
Since 2000 Uganda has benefitted from the United
States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),
which is a Generalised System of Preferences. It allows
duty and quota free access for some products. Despite
policy pronouncements, it has never managed to
establish an apparel industry on the back of AGOA.
Exports of these products to the U.S., which in 2003
amounted to US$1.6 million, have been on the decline
since then, reaching only US$143,000 in 2012. The
main reasons put forward for Uganda’s failure to take
advantage of AGOA provisions for the apparel sector
are high transportation and logistical costs, the absence
of an effective policy framework, weak government
commitment, lack of industry specific government
support and the limited availability of quality raw
materials.69
Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
In Uganda there were long-standing interests in
establishing SEZs. The progress was somewhat delayed
by lack of clarity despite the drafting of a Special
Economic Zones Bill in 2002. The Free Zone Act was
finally approved in 2014. This includes establishing the
Uganda Free Zones Authority (UFZA).
One of the challenges of the SEZs in Uganda has been
its landlocked situation. But the Government has
planned to develop a railway, linking the whole of East
Africa up to Ethiopia through South Sudan and plans to
develop the Entebbe Airport to become a regional and
continental hub. At the same time, a shortage of
serviced industrial land created constraints for the
expansion of the manufacturing sector in general and
exports in particular. For example, established locations
within Kampala are fully occupied and have little space
for expansion.
There have been many investors in domestic
manufacturing enterprises that are expanding
production and storage/distribution facilities and
positioning themselves to supply the regional export
market. There has been interest by large agro-
processing conglomerate and a steel reversing mill as
well as textile and garments under the AGOA.
The government signed an agreement in December
2015 to establish the first Special Economic Zone in
Uganda, which is placed in Kaweweta, Nakaseke
district, north-west of Kampala. The project is expected
to accelerate infrastructure development and create up
to 15,000 – 20,000 jobs in about 200 entities. The SEZ
will be a specially demarcated duty free enclave that
will be specialized with production, processing,
packaging and export of agribusiness products.
Despite the exemption from taxes and duties in the
SEZs, a recent survey showed that over 92% of
investors in Uganda are currently enjoying tax
incentives and will thus most likely invest their capital
even without these SEZ scheme.70
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 25
APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL DATA
Table 26: List approved labour related legislations in Uganda, 2014-2016
Type of legislation Legislation
2014
General provisions Free Zones Act, 2014 (No. 5 of 2014)
Education, vocational guidance and training
Higher Education Students Financing Act, 2014 (No. 2 of 2014)
2015
General provisions Presidential Elections (Amendment) Act, 2015 (No. 14 of 2015)
General provisions Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2015 (No. 12 of 2015)
Equality of opportunity and
treatment National Women's Council (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act 17 of 2015)
Employment policy, promotion of employment and employment services
National Council for Disability (Amendment) Act (No. 19 of 2015)
2016
General provisions Non-Governmental Organisations Act, 2016 (Act of 2016)
Source: ILO, NATLEX, Country Profile Uganda, Basic Laws
Table 27: Ratified ILO Conventions
Subject and/or right Convention Ratification date
Fundamental Conventions
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 2005
C098 - Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 1963
Elimination of all forms of forced labour
C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 1963
C105 - Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 1963
Effective abolition of child labour
C138 - Minimum Age Convention, 1973 2003
C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 2001
Elimination of discri-mination in employment
C100 - Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 2005
C111 - Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 2005
Governance Conventions
Labour inspection C081 - Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 1963
C129 - Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 Not ratified
Employment policy C122 - Employment Policy Convention, 1964 1967
Tripartism C144 - Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 1994
Up-to-date Conventions
Wages C094 - Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 1963
C095 - Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 1963
Young persons C124 - Medical Examination of Young Persons (Underground Work), 1965 1967
Migrant workers C143 - Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 1978
Industrial relations C154 - Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 1990
Employment Policy C159 - Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (disabled persons), 1983 1990
Occupational Safety and Health
C162 - Asbestos Convention, 1986 1990
Note: Fundamental Conventions are the eight most important ILO conventions that cover four fundamental principles and rights at work. Equivalent to basic human rights at work. Governance Conventions are four conventions that the ILO has designated as important to building national institutions and capacities that serve to promote employment. In other words, conventions that promotes a well-regulated and well-functioning labour market. In addition, there are 71 conventions, which ILO considers “up-to-date" and actively promotes. Source: ILO, NORMLEX
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 26
Table 28: Trade Unions in Uganda, 2016
Trade Union
Affiliation To national trade union
centre
Total Members
Dues No. of CBAs
Unions Affiliated to NOTU
Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU) NOTU 74,300 2% Salary 8
Uganda Beverage Tobacco and Allied Workers Union NOTU 3,962 2% Salary 6
Uganda Building Construction, Civil Engineering, Cement & Allied Workers’ Union
NOTU 4,540 2% salary 6
Uganda Government and Allied Workers’ Union (UGAWU) NOTU 5,300 2% salary 1
National Union of Clerical, Commercial, Professional and Technical Employees
NOTU 946 2% Salary 3
National Union of Education Institutions NOTU 6,400 3% salary 3
Uganda Mines, Metal and Allied Workers′ Union NOTU 1,043 2% Salary 5
National Union of Plantation and Agricultural Work (NUPAWU) NOTU 102,675 2% Salary 12
Uganda CommunicationEmployees’ Union NOTU 221 2% Salary 3
Uganda Public Employees Union NOTU 5,011 2% Salary -
Uganda Electricity and Allied Workers′ Union. NOTU 905 2% Salary 4
Uganda Railways Workers Union NOTU 438 2% Salary 1
Uganda Hospitality Leisure and Allied Workers Union. NOTU 32 2% Salary 2
Uganda Media Union NOTU 313 2% Salary
Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union NOTU 2,000 2% salary -
Uganda Fisheries and Allied Workers Union NOTU 1,500 2% Salary -
Uganda Horticulture, Industrial Service Providers and Allied
Workers’ Union NOTU 7,873 2%
1
general
CBA
UNATU Uganda National Teachers' Union NOTU 160,000 1% Salary 1
National Union of Co-operative Movement Workers’ Union NOTU 3,545 2% Salary 6
Uganda Mine, Metal, Oil, Gas and Allied Workers’ Union NOTU 1,043 2% 5
Uganda Horticultural, Industrial, Service Providers and Allied Workers Union (UHISPAWU)
NOTU 7,873 3% Salary 1
general CBA
National Union of Theatrical, Domestic and General Workers NOTU 3,000 2% salary 4
Uganda Textile Lather and Allied Workers’ Union NOTU - - -
Uganda Hotels, Food, Tourism and Allied Workers Union NOTU 50,000 - -
National Union of Infrastructural, Civil Works and Wood Workers
NOTU 2,929 - -
Unions Affiliated to COFTU
Uganda Journalists Union COFTU - - -
Uganda Markets & Allied Employees Union COFTU - - -
Uganda Chemical, Petroleum & Allied Workers Union COFTU - - -
Uganda Private Teachers Union COFTU - - -
Uganda Brewery, Bottling, Distillers and Allied Workers Union COFTU - - -
National Union of Drivers Cyclist & Allied Union Workers COFTU - - -
University Professionals and Academic Staff Union COFTU - - -
National Union of Micro Finance Savings & Credit Organization Workers
COFTU - - -
National Union of Local Government Workers COFTU - - -
Agro Based Workers Union COFTU - - -
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 27
Uganda Artisan & Allied Workers Union COFTU - - -
Uganda Courier and telecom Union COFTU - - -
The National Alliance of Informal Economy Workers Organization
COFTU - - -
Uganda Printers, Polyfibre and Allied Workers Union * COFTU 1,329 - -
Uganda Civil Society Organizations Workers’ Union * COFTU 1,214 - -
Uganda Parastatals, Statutory Authority and Judicial Workers’ Union *
COFTU 680 - -
Uganda Scientist, Researchers and Allied Workers Union * COFTU 510 - -
National Union of Creative, Performing Artists and Allied Workers
COFTU - - -
Independent Unions
Uganda Printers, Polyfibre and Allied Workers Union * Not Affiliated 1,329 - -
Uganda Civil Society Organizations Workers’ Union * Not Affiliated 1,214 - -
Uganda Parastatals, Statutory Authority and Judicial Workers’ Union **
Not Affiliated 680 - -
National Union of Infrastructural, Civil Works and Wood Workers *
Not Affiliated 2,929 - -
Uganda Scientist, Researchers and Allied Workers Union * Not Affiliated 510 - -
Kampala Metropolitan Boda-Boda Association Not Affiliated 64,000 - -
Namabitabodaboda association Not Affiliated - - -
Seetabodaboda association Not Affiliated - - -
AbaitaAbariki pick up and lorries association Not Affiliated - - -
Malaba taxi drivers association Not Affiliated - - -
* Trade union applied for affiliation to NOTU. Sources: NOTU and LO/FTF Council
Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation Labour Market Profile 2016
Uganda 2016 Page 28
REFERENCES 1 ATGWU, Union History 2 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015 3 New Vision, Trade Unions, EC duel over representation in parliament, March 1, 2016 4 LO/FTF Council, SRO Annual Narrative Assessment report 2015, February 2016 5 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015 6 FEU 7 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015 8 WageIndicator Foundation, CBA Model / Uganda 9 National Tripartite Charter on Labour Relations in Uganda 10 Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, Labour Advisory Board Annual Report 2011/12 11 IOM, Migration in Uganda, A RAPID COUNTRY PROFILE 2013, 2015 12 The Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006 (Act No. 8) 13 ILO, NATLEX, Constitution of Uganda 14 ILO, NATLEX, The Employment Act, 2006 (Act No. 6) 15 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2013 16 ILO, NATLEX, The Trade Unions Act, 2006 (Act No. 7) 17 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015 18 ILO, NATLEX, The Labour Disputes (Arbitraion and Settlement) Act, 2006 (Act No. 8) & ULII, The Labour Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act, 2006 19 ILO, NATLEX, The Occupational Safty and Health Act, 2006 (Act No. 9) 20 Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, International Labour Day May 1st 2015 21 HRAPF, The Equal Opportunities Commission Act, 2007 22 ULII, Employment (Employment of Children) Regulations, 2012 23 ILO, NATLEX, Country Profile Uganda, Basic Laws 24 ITUC, Survey of violations of trade union rights, Uganda 25 ILO, NATLEX, Country Profile, Ratifications for Uganda 26 ITUC, Global Rights Index 2016 27 ITUC, Survey of violations of trade union rights, Uganda 28 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Uganda, 2015 29 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Uganda, 2015 30 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2014 & The Independent, A minimum wage for workers, June 28, 2015 31 Equal Opportunities Commission, Annual Reporton the State
of Equal Opportunities in Uganda, 2015/16, 2016 32 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Uganda, 2015 33 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2013 34 Bureau for Workers’ Activities of the International Labour Organization & NOTU, Trade Union Actions against HIV/AIDS in Uganda: A Workers’ Education Manual, 2005 35 Kucera D. &Roncolato L. (2008), Informal Employment: Two contested policy issues, International Labour Review, Vol. 147 (2008). No. 4 36 Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, The National Employment Policy for Uganda, 2011 37 The Republic of Uganda, Decent Work Country Programme
2013-2017 (Final Draft), October 2012
38 ILO, Organizing of young informal workers: Does it pay off?, Technical Brief No.3, April 2016 39 OIM, Migration in Uganda, A RAPID COUNTRY PROFILE 2013 40 IOM & Government of Uganda, Labour Migration Management Assessment: Uganda, 2014 41 NOTU, Uganda Country Report, 2012 42 U.S. Department of State, Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2015 43 ILO & UBOS, Children Labour Report, The National Labour Force and Children Activities Survey 2011/12, 2013 44 U.S. Department of Labor, Uganda: 2013 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor 45 World Economic Forum, Insight Report, The Global Gender Gap Report 2016 46 FOWODE, Gender Policy Brief for Uganda’s Agriculture Sector, 2012 47 NOTU 48 EATUC, Gender Stategy , 2011 49 ILO, Labour market transitions of young women and men in Uganda, Work4Youth Publication Series No. 24, December 2014 50 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Employment Policies for Uganda: Young Leaders Perspectives, December 2011 51 ILO, Social Protection, Uganda 52 ILO, Labour market transitions of young women and men in Uganda, Work4Youth Publication Series No. 24, December 2014 53 U.S. Department of Labor, 2012 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Uganda 54 Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, The National Employment Policy for Uganda, 2011 55 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Employment Policies for Uganda: Young Leaders Perspectives, December 2011 56 Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, The National Employment Policy for Uganda, 2011 57 World Bank, DataBank, Firms offering formal training (% of firms) 58 ILO, Social Protection, Uganda 59 ISSA, The challenges of managing microinsurance schemes in Uganda, 2007 60 ISSA, Country Profiles, Uganda 61 Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Expanding Social Protection Programme 62 World Bank & IFC, Doing Business, Methodology 63 ITUC, WORLD BANK’S DOING BUSINESS MAKES UNSUBSTANTIATED ASSERTIONS, REWARDS COUNTRIES THAT HAVE NOT RATIFIED ILO CONVENTIONS, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 & ILO, DEREGULATION LABOUR MARKETS: HOW ROBUST IS THE ANALYSIS OF RECENT IMF WORKING PAPERS?, CONDITIONS OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT SERIES NO. 47, 2014 64 World Bank, The Worldwide Governance Indicators, Methodology and Analytical Issues, Policy Research Working Paper 5430, 2010 65 CIA, The World Factbook, Uganda 66 The Economist, Transport in Africa: Get a move on, Feb 16th 2013 67 Ebert &Posthuma, ILO, IILS, 2010, Labour provisions in trade agreements: current trends and provisions 68 EAC, Annex on the Free Movement of Workers, November 2009 69 AEO, Uganda 2014 70 THE OBSERVER, HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE TAX INCENTIVES REGIME IN UGANDA?, JULY 3, 2012