The Employment Act, 2007 has been replaced by Employment Act (Amendment) Act, 2019.We highlight the key changes:

Establishment of provisions for the treatment of overtime to require employee agreement on working overtime, payment of overtime compensation of at least 150% of normal pay for hours of work in excess of normal weekly hours (200% for work on a public holiday or normal rest day), and a cap on daily work time at 12 hours (including overtime).

Night work be defined as work between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and require employee agreement and compensation in the form of a shift allowance or reduction in working time (both unspecified). The employer would also be required to provide transportation to and from work and home for night workers and provide periodic medical examinations.

 Gratuity pay- The minimum employer-paid end-of-service benefit (service pay) would be 15 days’ pay times completed years of service. The current provisions on service pay do not stipulate the minimum amount payable, but they do exclude employees covered by social security or a qualifying employer plan from eligibility for service pay.

 Sick leave- Employer-paid sick leave would increase from the current level of seven days at 100% of basic pay and seven days at 50% of basic pay, to 30 days at 100% of basic pay and then 15 days at 50% of basic pay.

 Protections against discrimination in employment have been expanded to include age, health status, belief, culture and dress as protected characteristics. Companies with five or more employees are now required to have formal policies for handling sexual harassment claims (the mandate currently applies to companies with 20 or more workers).

 The use of post-employment, non-compete provisions or agreements have been invalidated and are no longer legal.

An employer is now required to consult with affected employees in advance of a transfer of undertaking including mergers/takeovers, with the stipulation that employees be transferred to the new employer without any loss of benefits or entitlements. The new employer will now be liable for all contractual benefits of the transferred employees from the start of their employment with the seller.

Other paid leaves- New provisions were enacted for employer-paid leaves of up to 10 days for study leave, five days for bereavement leave (if annual leave has been exhausted), one month for adoption leave (or in the event of stillbirth) and two months’ maternity leave in the event of surrogacy (for the commissioning parent). Adoption leave would apply only for the adoption of children under the age of two.

The penalty for wrongfully withholding or deducting an employee’s salary will be Shs. 1 million up from Shs 100,000.