Platform for Labour Action (PLA) is a National Civil Society Organization that was founded in the year 2000. PLA is focused on promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable and marginalized workers through empowerment of communities and individuals in Uganda.
Lives impacted
years of service
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.
All workers deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully at their place of work, with full labour rights and protections given to them. The law generally recognises a notice period. A domestic worker is entitled to notice in writing or a verbal notice for an illiterate worker. At least this should be explained to the domestic worker if he/she is not able to understand it in written form.
Domestic work is one of the oldest occupations for women in world history. It has links to slavery and various forms of servitude, including colonialism. It is an unregulated and undervalued activity because, in most of the countries, labour laws are not applicable to the domestic workers.
In a new convention adopted by ILO in June 2011 (c189), domestic work is defined as the “work performed in or for a household or households”. Domestic work is different from the care work performed by members of a household as part of a family responsibility and without creating an employment relationship.
Domestic work includes (in a household or households)
