Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Uganda (Ratification: 1963)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention.Insertion of labour clauses in public contracts. For many years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the insertion of labour clauses in public contracts in accordance with the requirements of the Convention, either under the existing public procurement legislation or within the broader framework of the National Employment Policy. The Committee notes the Government’s renewed reference, in its 2023 and 2024 reports, to the legislation implementing the requirements of the Convention, specifically the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act 2003, the PPDA Regulations 2014, the PPDA Guidelines 2014, and the Contracts Act 2010. Additionally, regarding the application of Article 2 of the Convention, the Government refers to the Employment Act 2006, in particular section 59(1), which requires that employers provide employees with the particulars of their employment through written notice, as well as to Parts V and VI of the Act which regulate wages, rights and duties in employment. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the public procurement legislation has recently undergone a major reform: (i) the PPDA Act 2003 was amended in 2011 and 2021 and, under section 67, the standard documents provided by the PPDA Authority shall be used as models for all solicitation documents, including with regard to the general conditions of contract; (ii) the PPDA Regulations 2014 have been revised and the Local Governments (PPDA) Regulations 2006 have been revoked; (iii) the new PPDA Regulations 2023, issued by the Ministry of Finance and effective 5 February 2024, regulate procurement by central and local government agencies with regard to supplies, works, consultancy and non-consultancy services (S.I. 100/2023; S.I. 101/2023) and lay down the terms and conditions of their respective contracts (S.I. 105/2023); and (iv) the PPDA Guidelines 2024, issued by the PPDA Authority, provide clarification on various issues, including with regard to pre-bid meetings. Lastly, the Committee notes that, in response to its previous request for specifying the status of General Notice No. 9 of 1963 on fair wages and the standard Contract Agreement and Schedules of Conditions for Building Works, which previously implemented the Convention with respect to contracts for public works, the Government indicates that consultations with social partners on these issues are in progress.

While duly noting the above, the Committee recalls once again that the essential purpose of the Convention is to ensure that workers employed under public contracts enjoy the same conditions as workers whose conditions of employment are fixed not only by national legislation but also by collective agreements or arbitration awards, in view of the fact that in many cases the provisions of the national legislation on wages, hours of work and other conditions of employment provide merely for minimum standards which may be exceeded by collective agreements or otherwise. The Committee therefore observes that the mere fact that the national legislation is applicable to all workers, including those hired to work in the framework of public contracts, does not release the States which have ratified the Convention from the obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure that public contracts contain the labour clauses specified in Article 2 of the Convention (, paragraph 45). The Committee also observes that while the new public procurement legislation referred to by the Government contains very detailed provisions on all stages of the bidding and selection process, it does not set out, like the 2003 procurement legislation before it, any standards concerning the labour conditions applicable to workers engaged in the execution of public contracts. Recalling that it has been drawing the Government’s attention to the need to adopt effective measures aimed at implementing the Convention for many years, the Committee regrets that the Government has not seized the opportunity of the recent reform to bring the national legislation into conformity with the Convention. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take all appropriate measures in the very near future so as to ensure that the legal framework applicable to public procurement contracts expressly provides for the insertion of labour clauses in public contracts in accordance with the requirements of the Convention. In particular, it requests the Government to report on any action taken by the PPDA Authority to ensure the insertion of labour clauses of the type prescribed by Article 2 of the Convention in the general and special conditions of contracts or other common specification standards to be used by procurement bodies. Lastly, with regard to the status of General Notice No. 9 of 1963 on fair wages and the standard Contract Agreement and Schedules of Conditions for Building Works, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments following the ongoing consultations with the social partners on this issue.