Covid-19 should not be an excuse to lose a job
Since the outbreak, many employees have been suspended indefinitely or dismissed without notice. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
BY GABRIEL C. BUULE
Towards the end of 2019, a top hotel offered Esther Namulondo a contract. Yet, in the wake of the coronavirus, after working for a few months, her employees asked her to stay home until further notice.
Since her job description at the hotel was to offer room service, hers was the kind she couldn’t perform from home. Months after the lockdown was eased, Namulondo was one of the many employees that were relieved off their duties after her contract was revoked.
Namulondo’s situation doesn’t differ from that of many people who took pay cuts because of the coronavirus effects while others were laid off, sadly, just like her, many were caught off guard.
For instance, Namulondo says it was not stated in her contract that she could be terminated with immediate effect.
Peter Luyimbaazi of Mayende and Company Advocate in Kampala says there are no substantial grounds for an employer to fire an employee without the two parties reaching a mutual agreement.
Luyimbaazi says that much as the matter is two-way traffic, it is ambiguous for any employer to deliberately terminate a contract of a legal employee without prior explanation.
He advises that in situations of calamity such as the coronavirus, the employer can seek avenues like using the leave policy to deal with the situation.
“Many lay off workers to avoid paying especially because they are not making returns. But it ceases to be a solution and ideally, the two parties have to reach a common ground by mutual consent,” Luyimbaazi adds.
Economic analyst and researcher Richard Ssempala warns that private sector and medium enterprises has been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic, a sign that more people are going to be laid off.
He, however, advises that both the employees and employers are in panic but we can opt for employers to work it around on mutual grounds since this is a tragedy that has happened to the world.
What to do when laid off illegally
Luyimbaazi advises that taking a legal action should always come at a point when all possible solutions have been exploited with no signs of the two parties reaching a compromise.
“An employer might have a defence if the company is generally hit by the catastrophe but not in cases where one wishes to lay off people selectively in the name of a pandemic or if the company still makes money,” he adds.
He says that much as the worker is legally protected, the matter might always prove two way traffic if the employer can present valid reasons.
He advises that the first action by any employee who has been unfairly laid off is to issue a demand notice to the employer and this should be incases of selective discrimination at a time of pandemic.
The demand notice is served to the employer and incase the victim is not happy with the outcomes, one has to file a dispute with the labour officer and incase the labour office fails to satisfactorily address the matter , one can go to the industrial tribunal.
Luyimbaazi advises that the demand should clearly indicate the background of the matter and then indicate the prayer of the complainant.
The Law
The 2006 employment act , part five of wages and related notices, Chapter 40, indicates that without prejudice, an employer is not liable to provide work where interruptions to his or her business activities are caused by natural calamities, a strike, go-slow or other industrial action. It further indicates that where an employer fails to provide work as required by this section, he or she shall pay to the employee, in respect of every day on which he or she shall so fail, wages at the same rate as if the employee had performed a day’s work.
However, in reference to Chapter 48 of the act, Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, on the bankruptcy or winding-up of an employer’s business, the claim of an employee or those claiming on his or her behalf, wages and other payments to which he or she is entitled under this Act, shall have priority over all other claims which have accrued in respect of the twenty-six weeks immediately preceding the date on which the declaration of bankruptcy or winding-up is made.
