Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa whose diverse landscape encompasses the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains and the immense Lake Victoria. It is bordered by South Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The country’s economy is made up of agriculture, industry, and services.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Uganda.
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Capital :
Kampala
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Currency :
Ugandan Shilling (USh, UGX)
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Languages spoken :
Swahili, English
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Population :
47.1 million (2021 est.)
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Minimum wage 2023 :
USh 6,000
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Cost of Living index :
$$ (109 of 139 nations)
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Payroll Frequency :
Monthly
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VAT - standard rate :
18%
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GDP - real growth rate :
3.4% (2021 est.)
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The holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2024.
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Uganda is 14 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
Normal working hours are eight hours per day and 48 hours per week. A rest break of 30 minutes is granted to employees working at least eight hours per day. Workers are entitled to 24 consecutive hours of rest per week. Weekly rest may be taken on the customary rest day (Sunday) or as agreed between the two parties.
Workers may be required to work overtime, provided that total working hours, inclusive of overtime, must not exceed 10 hours per day or 56 hours per week except when persons are employed in shifts.
Overtime work is paid at 150% of the standard rate if performed on normal weekdays, and at 200% of the standard rate if performed on a public holiday.
The maximum length of a probation period is six months but it may be extended to one year with the consent of a worker.
A worker may be terminated after serving a due notice period or paid in lieu of notice. The required notice period depends on the worker’s length of service as follows:
| Length of Service | Notice Required |
| Probationary contract | 14 days |
| More than 6 months but less than 1 year | 2 weeks |
| More than 12 months but less than 5 years | 1 month |
| More than 5 years but less than 10 years | 2 months |
| 10 years or more | 3 months |
Employees are entitled to annual leave after at least six months of service. An employee, working weekly for 16 or more hours, is entitled to 21 working days of paid annual leave at a rate of seven days for each continuous period of four months of service upon completion of 12 months of continuous service.
An employee, working at least 16 hours per week, is entitled to sick leave upon completion of one month of service with the employer. When a worker is incapable of work because of sickness or injury, they are entitled to fully paid sick leave for the first month of illness.
In order to avail sick leave pay from the employer, the worker must notify the employer about the reason for absence as early as possible. The employer may request the worker to provide a certificate of incapacity for work and duration of incapacity, signed by a qualified medical practitioner.
There is no provision in law for paid or unpaid parental leave.
Female employees are entitled to 60 working days (eight and a half weeks) of fully paid maternity leave. Compulsory leave is four weeks after child birth or miscarriage.
Maternity leave may be extended in cases of sickness arising out of pregnancy or confinement, affecting either the mother or the baby, and making the mother’s return to work inadvisable. The right to return is available to the worker within eight weeks after the date of childbirth or miscarriage (thus adding four more weeks of maternity leave).
Maternity leave pay is fully financed by the employer.
A male employee, after the birth of a child or miscarriage of a wife, is entitled to four working days of paternity leave in a year, fully paid by the employer.
There is no statutory provision for other types of paid leave in the Employment Law.
There is no statutory provision for unpaid leave in Uganda.
Membership to Uganda’s National Social Security Fund is mandatory for employers who have five or more employees between 16 and 55 years of age. It is the obligation of the employer to remit contributions to the Fund for the employees every month.
Benefits from the social security system include:
An overview of mandatory contributions towards social security are presented below:
| Benefits | Employer Contribution | Employee Contribution |
| Social Security | 10% | 5% |
There is no mandatory health insurance in Uganda.
Accident insurance is an employer liability program managed through private carriers. The employer bears the total cost of the insurance premiums.
Employees who have a work injury or occupational disease lasting at least three consecutive days that results in the loss of earnings are entitled to work injury benefits. Accidents that occur while commuting to and from work are covered.
There is no provision in law for unemployment insurance and benefits.
The public pension is provided by the NSSF and funded through employer and employee contributions of 10% and 5% respectively.
Old-age benefits are granted to a worker who has attained the age of 55. An early retirement benefit can also be claimed at the age of 50. Further, a withdrawal benefit is paid to members on attaining the age of 50, if they have been out of employment for a year.
Invalidity benefits are provided by the NSSF funded through employer and employee contributions of 10% and 5% respectively.
The National Social Security Fund Act provides for an invalidity benefit to members who have lost their earning capacity and have physical or or mental incapacity, as verified by the NSSF Doctor.
Survivor benefits are provided by the NSSF funded through employer and employee contributions of 10% and 5% respectively.
The National Social Security Fund Act provides a survivor benefit to dependents including surviving spouses, dependent children, parents and brothers, grandparents or next-of kin and the person who paid for the funeral.