Uganda's Hospitality Sector to Implement 2026 Employment Act with ILO Support

The Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA) has partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to launch a Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit, aimed at overhauling human resource practices in the country's hospitality sector. This move comes as Uganda enforces its landmark Employment (Amendment) Act 2026, which extends constitutional protections to all workers. The Act, which commenced on 5 June 2026, overhauls Uganda's 2006 labor law.

The new law strictly caps casual employment at six continuous months, mandates sexual harassment prevention policies across all enterprises, and criminalizes workplace harassment and intimidation. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is empowered to gazette specific job roles restricted from migrant workers. UHOA Chairperson Susan Muhwezi announced that the human rights due diligence toolkit will be integrated into member properties' operational manuals.

The toolkit aims to provide practical tools for HR managers to conduct human rights due diligence across the entire worker journey, from recruitment to onboarding. ILO Facilitator Alix Nasri explained that fair recruitment must eliminate conflicts of interest, safeguard refugee rights, and enforce human rights standards on third-party casual labor agencies and subcontractors. The sector is under pressure to formalize labor standards ahead of hosting major continental events and welcoming international hotel chains.

However, workshop deliberations exposed sharp discrepancies between statutory provisions and workplace realities. Union leaders and HR practitioners raised alarms over systemic casualization, with Moses Mauku, representing the Hotel, Tourism and Allied Workers Union, revealing conflict-of-interest schemes where senior HR managers establish private recruitment agencies to supply their own hotels with casual labor.

Participants highlighted rampant working-hour violations, where staff work 12-hour shifts without overtime compensation. The workshop also sparked intense debate over the regulation of foreign workers, with HR professionals warning that bureaucratic restrictions could create skill shortages. Union leaders exposed instances of employers illegally seizing the passports of foreign workers from India and Ethiopia.

UHOA Chief Executive Officer Jean Byamugisha emphasized that embedding human rights due diligence is vital for sustainable growth, particularly following the success of the ILO Prospects apprenticeship program, which integrated refugees and host community youth into formal hotel jobs. The program has shown that including components of human rights in employment can lead to better productivity and compliance with global employment trends.

As the government prepares operational regulations under the 2026 Act, the ultimate test for Uganda's labor market rests on whether employers will genuinely embed these human rights tools into daily operations or treat compliance as a mere paper exercise. The UHOA has promised to engage hotel owners directly to enforce compliance, acknowledging that hotel proprietors often override technical HR advice.

Key points

• The Uganda Hotel Owners Association and ILO have launched a Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit to support the implementation of the 2026 Employment Act in the hospitality sector.