A new law is in offing that will see officials of labour exporting agencies fined Shs400m or given a five year jail term for every harassed migrant worker.
This proposal is contained in “The Employment (amendment) Bill, 2019” tabled as a Private Members Bill by Workers MP, Agnes Kunihira.
The Bill seeks to amend the Employment Act of 2006 and provide for the regulation of domestic workers and casual workers with the aim of improve their working conditions.
The bill is proposing that labour exporting agencies bear full and complete responsibility for all claims and liabilities which may arise in connection with the use of the license under which they operate.
The Bill further requires every recruitment agency to ensure that recruitment fees charged by the agency are not deducted from the remuneration of the worker.
The proposed law also provides for compulsory registration and licensing of recruitment agencies for domestic workers and non-manual labourers.
While tabling the Bill yesterday, Kuhinira said that most of the women and young people working as domestic workers are often related to their employers and this limits the applicability of the law on domestic workers.
According to the proposed law, section 37 of the Employment act prohibits the illicit movement of migrant workers in and out of the country.
The bill among others requires that a migrant work gets a written contract of service before departure for work in another country and receive a written job offer or contract that is enforceable in the country for which work is to be performed with the terms and conditions of work.
The bill also provides for protection of breast feeding mothers and for employers to put place in policies and facilities for breastfeeding mothers.
If passed into law, the Bill will provide for the scope of sexual harassment in employment, an explicit formula for calculation of severance pay and to remove conditions attached to this pay.
There have been reports of mistreatment of Ugandan domestic workers abroad especially in Middle East countries.
The Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah has referred the matter to the House Committee on Gender for scrutiny, with a report expected in 45 days from Tuesday December 03, 2019.
