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Article

14 May 2020

Author:
Mr Kwesiga (Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability), in Daily Monitor (Uganda)

Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability urges the business response to COVID-19 to respect workers' rights

"Lockdown: Government should ensure respect for labour rights"

...The Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA) commends the government for acting swiftly and putting in place measures to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. However, these measures—whereas well intended, have nonetheless affected majority of Uganda’s working population in both the formal and informal sector. Last month, the government revealed that 4,200 companies across the country were at the verge of closure as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. This, in essence, means a huge number of employees would lose their jobs and the country would lose tax revenue sources...

...UCCA would like to re-emphasise the government’s obligation to protect and ensure that companies respect human rights, including labour rights during the Covid-19 pandemic...Specifically, UCCA recommends that, among others, government monitors and ensures respect for human rights—especially labour rights amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic containment measures. We also recommend that the internal measures undertaken by business enterprises during this pandemic must be legal as per Uganda’s labour rights policy and legislative frameworks...

Frontline essential businesses still in operation despite the Covid-19 lockdown need a number of personal protection equipment for their workers.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act 2006 places an obligation on employers to take reasonable care to maintain a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. Section 3 of the Workers Compensation Act provides for compensation for injuries suffered and scheduled diseases incurred in the course of and out of employment.