Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Uganda (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report on the Convention, due since 2018, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2019, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Article 5 of the Convention. Periodical payments. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, pursuant to sections 4 to 6 of the Workers Compensation Act of 2000, compensation for permanent total or partial incapacity for work, or death, resulting from an occupational accident, was paid as a lump sum equivalent to 60 months of the victims’ earnings, at the maximum. The Committee observed that these provisions were not fully aligned with Article 5 of the Convention, which requires, in principle, compensation to be paid as a periodical payment, without limit of time, and authorizes lump sum payments only in cases where the competent authority is satisfied that it will be properly utilized.

The Committee subsequently noted the Government’s indications that: (1) Workers Compensation Regulations had been developed to provide guidance on paying compensation in the form of periodical payments and that a circular letter had been issued to all District Labour Officers to ensure compliance with this principle, and that (2) a consensus had been reached with the social partners concerning amendments to sections 5 and 6 of the Workers Compensation Act to provide for periodical payments without limit of time, and that (3) the issue had been placed on the agenda of the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) for further consultations.

The Committee requests the Government (i) to indicate whether the above mentioned amendments to the Workers Compensation Act have been adopted; (ii) to provide information on any other measure – legislative and practical - taken to give effect to Article 5 of the Convention, notably by ensuring that the compensation to which victims of work-accidents or their dependents are entitled in case of permanent incapacity or death takes the form of a periodical payment; and (iii) to provide a copy of any legislative text, guideline or circular issued for this purpose.

The Committee has been informed that, based on the recommendations of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM Tripartite Working Group), the Governing Body has decided that Member States for which Convention No. 17 is in force should be encouraged to ratify the more recent Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121), or the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), and accept the obligations in its Part VI (see GB.328/LILS/2/1). Conventions Nos 121 and 102 reflect the more modern approach to employment injury benefits. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to follow up the Governing Body’s decision at its 328th Session (October–November 2016) approving the recommendations of the SRM Tripartite Working Group and to consider ratifying Conventions No 121 or No 102 (and accept Part VI) as the most up-to-date instruments in this subject area.