Wakilii

Najjuma Prossy Kwagala and Another v Kabira Country Club (Labour Dispute Reference No. 157 of 2019)

Industrial Court · [2025] UGIC 90 · 2025 Judgment for Claimants AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Labour dispute reference arising from Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development complaint regarding alleged unfair and unlawful termination
Decision
Claimants' claims for unlawful termination allowed; awarded unpaid wages, severance allowance, notice pay, general damages, and repatriation for qualifying employees; claims for overtime, public holiday pay, and accrued leave dismissed for lack of proof

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 1 (treatment unverified) Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

No adverse treatment recorded Cited 1 time with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Industrial Court held that the Respondent's attempt to impose new written employment contracts with adverse terms on employees who had served under oral contracts for 3 to 18 years, without proper consultation or consent, constituted a repudiation of the existing contracts and amounted to constructive dismissal. The termination was both procedurally and substantively unlawful. The Court awarded the 41 Claimants unpaid wages for January 2019, severance allowance computed at one month's salary per year served, notice pay, general damages of UGX 5,000,000 each, and repatriation for those who served 10 years or more, with interest.

Outcome

Claimants' claims for unlawful termination allowed; awarded unpaid wages, severance allowance, notice pay, general damages, and repatriation for qualifying employees; claims for overtime, public holiday pay, and accrued leave dismissed for lack of proof

Facts

The 41 Claimants were employed by Kabira Country Club under oral contracts for periods ranging from 3 to 18 years in various positions including supervisors, cleaners, waiters, and attendants, earning monthly salaries between UGX 230,000 and UGX 470,000. Some were members of the Uganda Hotels, Food, Tourism, Supermarkets and Allied Workers' Union, which had a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Respondent from April 2017. In December 2018, the Respondent attempted to convert oral contracts to written one-year contracts with adverse terms including probation clauses, reduced salaries, and shortened contract durations. On 14 January 2019, the Claimants were denied access to the workplace and informed via a notice at the gate that they were no longer employees after they refused to sign the new contracts. They had worked 11 days in January 2019 without payment. The Claimants reported the dispute to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development on 4 February 2019, which referred it to the Industrial Court.

Issues

  1. Whether the Claimants were unlawfully and unfairly terminated by the Respondent?
  2. Whether the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) applied to the Claimants and, if so, whether the terminal dues should be computed in accordance with it?
  3. Whether the Claimants are entitled to benefits in form of overtime pay, public holidays, or repatriation at the cost of the Respondent?
  4. What other remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • The Claimants were unlawfully constructively dismissed by the Respondent.
  • The Claimants are awarded UGX 4,258,859 as unpaid wages for 11 days worked in January 2019.
  • The Claimants are awarded UGX 122,460,956 as severance allowance.
  • The Claimants are awarded UGX 27,658,819 as notice pay.
  • The Claimants are awarded UGX 205,000,000 as general damages.
  • The monetary awards save for general damages shall carry interest of 12% per annum from the date of filing in the Industrial Court until payment in full.
  • General damages shall carry interest of 18% per annum from the date of this award until payment in full.
  • No order as to costs is made.

Rules and key headnotes

Employment & Labour — Variation of Contract Terms — Requirement for Consultation and Consent
An employee cannot be compelled to sign a contract that materially alters the terms of an existing employment contract to his or her disadvantage without informed consent, unless the existing contract unambiguously provides for such variation. Before varying employment contract terms, an employer must issue prior written notice, consult with the affected employee, revise the contract to reflect agreed variations, issue notice of changes, and obtain written consent through signing an amendment to the employment agreement. Failure to follow these steps constitutes repudiation of the existing contract and breach of contract.
Employment & Labour — Constructive Dismissal — Imposition of Adverse Contract Terms
Where an employer imposes new written contracts with adverse terms on employees who have served under oral contracts for substantial periods, without proper consultation or consent, and threatens disciplinary action for refusal to sign, such conduct amounts to coercion contrary to freedom of contract and constitutes clear repudiation of the existing oral contracts. The subsequent denial of workplace access and issuance of a termination notice amounts to constructive dismissal, which is unlawful.
Employment & Labour — Collective Bargaining — Union Duty to Consult Members
In the spirit of collective bargaining, union representatives must effectively represent the interests of employee members by sharing information and consulting them on negotiations. Collective bargaining requires parties to bargain in good faith, which implies conducting genuine negotiations, avoiding unjustified delays, making an effort to reach agreement, and complying with and applying agreements in good faith. Union representatives must demonstrate with credible evidence that negotiations occurred before engaging with the employer.
Employment & Labour — Collective Bargaining Agreement — Incorporation into Individual Contracts
The terms of a registered Collective Bargaining Agreement are incorporated into the contracts of employment of employees subject to its provisions and give rise to legally enforceable rights. It is strongly presumed that union members intend that the terms under the CBA bind them and the employer, and therefore form part of their individual contracts. Terms set out in any CBA must not be less than the minimum provided under the Employment Act, and where they are lower, the law shall prevail.
Employment & Labour — Severance Pay — Computation in Cases of Unlawful Termination
Where a Collective Bargaining Agreement provides for severance pay only in specific circumstances such as retirement, redundancy, or death, but is silent on remedies for unlawfully terminated employees, severance pay for unlawful termination must be computed in accordance with the Employment Act. In the absence of a negotiated formula between employer and employee, severance pay is computed at one month's salary for every year served.
Employment & Labour — Burden of Proof — Claims for Overtime and Leave
An employee claiming employment rights such as overtime pay or payment for untaken leave must prove the claim even where there is no documentary evidence. For overtime claims, the employee must show evidence of when overtime was worked and the hours worked. For untaken leave claims to succeed, the claimant must prove that he or she applied for leave and it was denied by the employer. It is not sufficient to compute unpaid overtime or leave without a factual basis.
Damages & Quantum — General Damages — Unlawful Termination
General damages are awarded to compensate a party for loss or injury in monetary terms and are compensatory in nature. The injured party must be awarded such sums as may put him or her in the same position if the wrong complained of had not been occasioned. In cases of unlawful termination, courts may grant general damages depending on the circumstances, taking into account factors such as the employer's conduct, disregard for employee rights, length of service, and the abrupt nature of termination causing loss of income and livelihood.

Legislation cited (12)

Cases cited (11)

  • Wells v Newfoundland [1999] 3 SCR 199
  • Universe Tankships v ITWF [1981] ICR IRLR 239
  • Mears v Safecar Ltd [1983] QB 54
  • Symon Wairobi Gatuma v Kenya Breweries Ltd (Petition No. E023 of 2023)
  • African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) v Kityaba (Civil Appeal No. 124 of 2017)
  • Donna Kamuli v DFCU Bank Limited (LDC No. 02 of 2015)
  • Framptons Ltd v Badger (EAT 138/06)
  • Mbiika v Centinary Bank Ltd (LDC No. 23 of 2014)
  • Florence Mufumba v Uganda Development Bank Ltd (Labour Dispute Claim No. 138 of 2014)
  • Dr. Peter Waswa Kityaba v African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) (Labour Dispute Reference No. 84 of 2016)
  • Post Bank Uganda vs Florence Mukadisi

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Najjuma_Prossy_Kwagala_and_Another_v_Kabira_Country_Club_(Labour_Dispute_Reference_No._157_of_2019)_[2025]_UGIC_90_(7_October_2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.