Hire and pay employees in
Uganda, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Uganda. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in Uganda is 2 days with Deel.

Currency

Ugandan Shilling (UGX)

Capital

Kampala

Official Language

Swahili, English

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Onboard, pay and manage employees in Uganda with Deel.

Usually, to hire in Uganda, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Deel lets you hire employees in Uganda quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

Download the Guide

All the necessary benefits for Uganda
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Uganda within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Private Healthcare - Unisure (optional)
  • Workman’s Compensation Insurance
  • Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)
  • Global Life Insurance - Allianz

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Uganda

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Uganda

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage is 6,000 Ugandan shillings per month.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 30%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Gross Annual Income Tax Rate (%)
Up to UGX 235,000 0%
UGX 235,000 to 335,000 10%
UGX 335,000 to UGX 410,000 20%
Over UGX 410,000 30%

Payroll Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 11.50% of the employee's salary.

  • National Social Security Fund 10.00%
  • Workman’s Compensation Insurance - 1.50%

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

The standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday. Overtime payment is mandatory and may be included in the salary. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. For additional hours, employees are paid 150% of their hourly rate.

Maternity Leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to 60 working days of paid leave. 28 days must be taken after the child's birth. The remaining days can be divided into two periods of time. The employee will receive 100% of their salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

The employee can extend leave an additional 4 weeks due to sickness at 100% pay.

Paternity Leave

Employees whose official spouse gave birth are entitled to 4 days of paid paternity leave. The employee will receive 100% of their salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

Parental Leave

In Uganda, no law covers parental leave. However, employees may be entitled to maternity leave and paternity leave.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 2 months per year. During the first month, the employee will receive their full salary from their employer. The second month is unpaid leave.

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Uganda can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Uganda for employers and termination must be done for just cause. Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • By the expiration of the contract
  • Unilaterally by the employer based on:
    • Probation period
    • Objective grounds
    • Disciplinary dismissal
    • Performance due to unsuitability for the job

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 2 weeks and will be increased according to the length of employment.

  • Two weeks notice for service of more than six months but less than one year.
  • One month notice for service of more than 12 months but less than five years.
  • Two months notice for service of more than five years but less than ten years.
  • Three months notice for service of 10 years or more.

Severance for Employees

In Uganda, all employees who are terminated because of the following are entitled to severance pay unless termination is due to gross misconduct or they have worked under 6 months.

  • The employee is unfairly dismissed by the employer.
  • The employee dies in the service of his or her employer unless death is due to an act occasioned by his or her of serious and willful misconduct.
  • The employee terminates his or her contract because of physical incapacity not occasioned by his or her own serious and willful misconduct.
  • The contract is terminated by reason of the death or insolvency of the employer.
  • The contract is terminated by a labor officer following the inability or refusal of the employer to pay wages under section 31 of the Labour Act.
  • Such other circumstances as the Minister may, by regulations, provide.

Severance pay is negotiated between the employee and the employer but the standard is 1 month for every year of service. In the absence of such a negotiated agreement, the determination may be done by a labor officer.

To protect you from unforeseen financial risks arising from terminations, Deel applies a Severance Accrual to all employment agreements in this country.  Deel has extensive expertise in managing litigation risk globally and our Severance Accrual calculation is based on the prevailing common-law or statutory entitlements and local best practices. In the event your employee resigns or is not entitled to severance, all unused amounts will be returned to you.

Paid Time Off

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 21 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues at 7 days for every 4 consecutive months an employee works. Employees are eligible for PTO after 4 months of work.

Public Holidays

Uganda celebrates 13 national holidays. National public holidays include:

  1. New Year’s Day
  2. NRM Liberation Day
  3. International Women’s Day
  4. Good Friday
  5. Easter Monday
  6. Labor Day
  7. Martyr’s day
  8. National Heroes’ Day
  9. Eid al- Fitr
  10. Independence Day
  11. Eid al-Aduha
  12. Christmas Day
  13. Boxing Day

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 2 business days after the client signs the SOW.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in English. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.

A contract must include:

  • Name
  • Start date
  • Length of the employment
  • Job description
  • Termination conditions

Probation Period

Probation periods are not mandatory. The maximum probation period is 6 months.
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Download the complete guide to hiring in Uganda

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Hiring in Uganda, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Uganda with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in Uganda and 150+ countries.

Group (8)

Starting at 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

11.50%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in Uganda?

View our Employee Cost Calculator

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