Employers who fail to comply with the provisions of the minimum wage will face a 10 million fine or be sent to jail on conviction for three years.
This, according to Workers’ MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara is contained in the Minimum Wage Bill passed by Parliament yesterday.
Rwakajara, in a press conference at parliament this morning emphasized that the bill is no threat to the investors and the basic pay will be reached by a tripartite arrangement comprising government representatives, workers representatives and employers unions.
A minimum wage will be announced for every financial year by a minister responsible for labor, and default on the figures announced will attract the sanctions.
Parliament yesterday passed the Minimum Wage Bill, 2015 that seeks to set up a minimum wage determination mechanism across different sectors of the economy.
The Bill that was moved by Workers MP Arinatwe Rwakajara also seeks to have establishment of minimum wages boards by the minister, mechanisms for determining minimum wages for each sector, duties, powers and functions of the board and the procedures for determining the minimum wage.
Rwakajara said that the Bill will address the gaps in the current Minimum Wage Advisory Board Act by providing for an employee-employer led minimum wages determination, sectoral based minimum wage determination and application.
“People cannot dictate what they wish to be paid and therefore live at the mercy of their employers; something we set out to correct with this bill,” he said.
Legislators across the political divide supported the bill saying it was long overdue for Uganda to have a minimum wage.
