Domestic workers in Uganda are mostly young girls, despite the constitutional rights of children in the legal framework; child domestic workers still exist in Uganda. Contributing factors to child domestic work include, socio-economic, political (civil strife), HIV/AIDS-related due to the death of parents, and institutional/policy-related factors, cultural influences where children are discriminated against, and employers’ preference for young workers with fewer demands compared to older workers. 

The new convention requires the provision of basic/fundamental rights to domestic workers on par with all other workers. Moreover, it requires that:

1. Domestic workers are informed of their conditions of employment in an understandable manner through a written contract;
2. Domestic workers are made to work only normal hours of work (for example, 48 hours a week in Pakistan and India) and other provisions like overtime compensation, periods of daily and weekly rest and annual paid leave are complied with;
3. Minimum age and minimum wage regulations (as are the norm in a country) are complied with;
4. Wages are to be paid in cash, however, only a limited portion of wages may be in kind.

For migrant domestic workers, the convention requires that a written contract must be signed and handed over to a worker before he/she crosses the national boundary. However, this provision is not applicable when people enjoy the freedom of movement through some bilateral or multilateral agreements. This provision is not applicable in the case of EU as well.

The Employment Act 2006 states that there is no permit requirement for one to recruit a domestic servant for employment. However, beyond this, there is no other specific provision in the constitution of Uganda or the labour laws regarding domestic workers in Uganda.

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.