Minimum Wage: House in final stages of passing the long-awaited Wage Bill

Kampala. Richard Anguzo, 30, left Arua for Kampala in search for what he thought was greener pasture following a tip off from his colleague who was working as a security guard at an estate in Kyaliwajjala, Wakiso District.
Indeed, he got a similar job like his colleague to take care of another estate around the same village.
Anguzo and his colleague are both full-time security guards and earn about Shs150,000 ($44) monthly.
An encounter with Anguzo, reveals: “This money is not enough to sustain me and my family but I supplement it by doing other causal jobs like washing tenants’ cars and doing their laundry.”

He shares that on several occasions, he has pleaded with his employer to top up his salary to Shs200,000 but it’s been a hustle.
In a related scenario, Olivia Nakitende (19), is a housemaid to a family of seven in Namungoona, a Kampala suburb.
Nakitende says: “When my employer was recruiting me on this job, I was told to keep the home tidy, do laundry, prepare meals for the family and take care of the house 24/7, and monthly I am paid Shs60,000 ($18).”
However, it is this amount of money that Nakitende uses for medical bills in case she falls sick and also sends some upkeep for her mother and siblings in Masaka.

Anguzo and Nakitende who don’t have a formal salary structure, fall under the causal workers’ category that is unfairly remunerated for their work because Uganda lacks a minimum wage.
The 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) October 2013 differentiates between employment and work. Work comprises any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for own use.
According to Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) abstract report 2015, the total working population in Uganda was estimated at 13.9 million, of which 56.8 per cent (7.9 million) are employed.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was 52.8 per cent while the Employment to Population Ratio (EPR) was 47.8 per cent.
The overall Unemployment Rate (UR) was 9.4 per cent in 2012/13 with the females experiencing higher unemployment rates at 11 per cent than males at 8 per cent.
Wilson Owere, the chairman general of the National Organisation of Trade Unions’ (NOTU) in an interview with Prosper Magazine, says: “This is one of the biggest challenges of those who are being outsourced by employers and the most vulnerable are the casual labourers.”

Actions
Last year, government instituted and approved a seven-member Minimum Wage Advisory Board, chaired by Chris Kassami (who unfortunately passed away in March this year), a key step towards the realisation of a minimum wage in the country.
The board commissioned the Economic Policy Research Centre of Makerere to conduct a study.
The board’s responsibility was to study the economic relationship between minimum wages, wage distribution, hours worked and poverty eradication, education, training as well as analyse the probable impact, if any, of minimum wages on investment in Uganda.
The board was also required to examine Uganda’s current wage policy and advise government on the suitable considerations for determining minimum wages.

Information obtained by this newspaper indicates that a fortnight ago, the board presented their preliminary findings to the line ministry of gender labour and social development.
Indeed, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Pius Bigirimana in an interview last week confirmed this development.
“The board is making progress and already, they have produced a draft submitted to ministry of Gender and comments are being made. When the board concludes their work, this report will be forwarded back to Cabinet for consideration,” Bigirimana said.
Mr Bigirimana, however, was not certain about the time frame this work will be complete.

ILO
Following the government’s appointment of the minimum wage board last year, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) dropped Uganda off the shortlisted countries.
ILO, during the 104th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 2015, made the decision after the government delegation led by Labour minister Kamanda Bataringaya and Mr Bigirimana informed the meeting that Uganda had approved the Minimum Wage Advisory Board to kick-start preparations for setting up a minimum wage for workers in the country.

A statement issued by the government delegation to Geneva, indicated that Uganda was hailed for fulfilling recommendations earlier made by ILO.
These included establishment and functionalisation of the Industrial Court, enforcement of occupational health and safety measures, and appointment of the minimum wages advisory board.
“From this achievement,” Bigirimana said: “Uganda has been removed from those countries that had been blacklisted and put on the cause list to answer queries.”
Information revealed to this newspaper the approval of this board followed rigorous engagement between the workers’ leaders and President Museveni, who had previously scoffed at calls for minimum wage as a disincentive to investment.

NOTU and FUE
In this struggle, NOTU and Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) are applying all measures to see that a minimum wage is set.
Because of this, reliable sources indicate that casual workers may have Christmas before December. As indication for the long-awaited minimum wage bill is expected to be passed into law before the Ninth Parliament soon.

In an interview with Prosper magazine NOTU’s Uwere said: “This time, there are no tricks; the minimum wage will be set. I have information from the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga who has assured us the Minimum wage Bill will be passed before the 9th Parliament ends.”
Secondly Owere said they are in discussions with President Yoweri Museveni whom he said has agreed in principle, that there must be a minimum wage.
“We have been engaging the President. Our first meeting took place at State House Entebbe last year before the minister presented the Cabinet Paper on Minimum Wage for consideration,” Owere shared.
They are also conducting a research withFUE to find how this will work.

FUE’s executive director Rosemary Ssenabulya shared that in December last year, they commissioned a consultancy to get the views of the workers of the criteria to be followed when setting up a minimum wage.
“We are looking at four sectors mainly construction, agriculture, manufacturing and hotels to try and get views of the workers on the criteria to be followed when setting up a minimum wage,” Ssenabulya said.
She said they expect their report to be out in the next few months.
“We shall come out with our report and compared notice with findings of the board,” Ssenabulya noted.

Regional status
Uganda as a member of the East African Community is required to comply like the other member countries to have a functioning minimum wage.
Kenya, the region’s biggest economy’s minimum wage is set by the government by location, age and skill level; the lowest urban minimum wage was Kshs10, 107.10 (Shs330,000) per month, and the lowest agricultural minimum wage for unskilled employees is Kshs5,436.90 (Shs178,500) per month, excluding housing allowance.

Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest monetary value which may be paid to those workers who don’t have any salary structure but if they happen to get a job their payment should be at a particular point.
The last time Uganda set a minimum wage was in 1984 when this was set at Shs6,000 per month, which has remained in force to this day.
However, there were attempts in 1995 when the Minimum Wage Advisory Council recommended a Sh75,000 minimum monthly wages for unskilled workers, but this was never implemented.
Different people pay different rates over and above the minimum wage. Since the minimum wage has never been changed or removed for a long time, it remains the minimum although it is now a very low minimum which is almost impossible for anybody to pay below it.

Ideally, workers are entitled to at least one day of rest per week (24 consecutive hours) according to Section 51 of the Employment Act, 2006.
For several years, Unionists have pushed government to fix the minimum wage to protect workers from exploitation.
Workers’ Member of Parliament Theopista Ssentongo in an interview with Prosper expressed concern over the delay to set up a minimum wage bill saying it has been a long standing challenge.
“Parliament had allowed us to present a Private Members Bill but there was some delay for the certificate of financial implication from the Ministry of Finance,” she said.

Top 10 countries paying highest Minimum wage

1. Australia leads the list with $9.54 (Shs31,863), per hour.
2. Luxembourg comes second with $9.24 (Shs30,861) per hour.
3. Belgium comes in the third position at $8.57 (Shs28,623) per hour.
4. Ireland pays $8.46 (Shs28,256), per hour.
5. France pays $8.24 (Shs27,521), per hour.
6. Netherlands pays $8.20 (Shs27,388), per hour.
7. New Zealand pays $7.55 (Shs25,217), per hour.
8. Germany pays $7.19 (Shs24,014), per hour.
9. Canada pays $7.18 (Shs23,981) per hour
10. United Kingdom pays $7.06 (Shs23,500) per hour.

[email protected]