The employment act has a very narrow mention of domestic workers where it states that there is no permit requirement for one to recruit a domestic servant for employment. While the employment act 2006 recognises “housemaids,” the irony is that the act does not recognise the category of workers known as “domestic workers” because homes are considered private premises and therefore cannot be inspected by labour officers to enforce the act.

That is the only provision in the law; the constitution of the Republic of Uganda does not have specific provision tackling the work done by domestic workers in Uganda.

In this case, employers should exhibit their utmost integrity to treat domestic workers as human beings. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that there is a fair and decent working environment for a domestic worker.

A domestic worker is one who works in or for another person’s home. For a person to qualify as a domestic worker, he/she must be engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship. The term “employment relationship” excludes those persons from domestic work who;

1. Perform their work only occasionally or sporadically (such as part-time babysitters)
2. Perform the domestic work as a family responsibility (child care, elder care, etc.)

However, workers employed for the cleaning of public and private buildings and any other above-mentioned activities are not domestic workers as domestic work is a household work and is usually performed within the boundaries of a house.

Domestic workers in Uganda are mostly girls the age of 16 and above who are hired to do domestic chores in a home. They are commonly referred to as “housemaids” or “house girls”. On rare occasions old women and “house boys” are also involved in offering this kind of labour. Other categories include drivers and other workers in farms and gardens.