Wakilii

Ssenyonga Sumaiya v Comfort Homes Uganda Limited (Labour Reference No. 131 of 2021)

Industrial Court · [2025] UGIC 88 · 2025 Claim Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Labour reference arising from labour complaint before the labour office, referred to Industrial Court on question of law
Decision
Claimant's claim for unfair and unlawful dismissal succeeded with awards of payment in lieu of notice, general damages, aggravated damages, interest, and costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Industrial Court held that the claimant was an employee of the respondent company, not of the law firm that purportedly seconded her. The court found that no valid secondment existed because the claimant had never been employed by the law firm but had only volunteered there. The respondent was therefore the claimant's original and real employer. The court further held that the claimant's summary dismissal without notice, reason, or hearing was unlawful and unfair. The claimant was awarded payment in lieu of notice, general damages, and aggravated damages.

Outcome

Claimant's claim for unfair and unlawful dismissal succeeded with awards of payment in lieu of notice, general damages, aggravated damages, interest, and costs

Facts

In March 2019, the claimant applied for employment as a Legal Assistant at CR Amanya Advocates but was told there was no vacancy and could only volunteer. In July 2019, she began volunteering at the firm. On 29 July 2019, the firm's Managing Partner informed her that the respondent company needed a Legal Assistant and instructed her to report to the respondent's office. She was orally offered employment at a monthly salary of UGX 1,500,000 and instructed to draft her own employment contract. She commenced work on 30 July 2019. On 5 December 2019, she was summoned to the law firm, informed that her services were terminated, and asked to hand over company property. She was given no notice, reason, or hearing. The respondent contended that the claimant was an employee of the law firm who had been seconded to the respondent under a secondment agreement between the firm and the company, and that the law firm had recalled her from secondment.

Issues

  1. Whether the Claimant was an employee of the Respondent?
  2. Whether the termination of the Claimant's employment was lawful?
  3. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • The claim succeeds.
  • It is declared that the Claimant was unfairly and unlawfully dismissed.
  • An award of 1 week's pay amounting to UGX 375,000 as payment in lieu of notice.
  • General damages of UGX 7,500,000.
  • Aggravated damages of UGX 3,500,000.
  • Interest of 18% per annum on awards 3, 4, and 5 from the date of this award until payment in full.
  • Costs of this suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Secondment — Requirements for Valid Secondment — Existence of Original Employment Relationship
A valid secondment arrangement requires an existing employer-employee relationship between the original employer and the employee. An employer cannot second an employee it has never employed. Where a person volunteers for an organisation without an employment contract, that organisation cannot validly second the volunteer to another entity under the guise of secondment.
Secondment — Legal Nature and Tripartite Relationship
Secondment creates a tripartite arrangement among the original employer, the employee, and the host employer. The original employer remains the legal employer and retains the right to terminate the employment relationship. The host employer becomes the economic employer who directs the work and may terminate the secondment arrangement by releasing the employee back to the original employer. The contract of employment between the original employer and employee is not broken during secondment.
Secondment — Employee Rights and Employer Obligations
An employee on secondment is entitled to all the rights of an employee in a normal employment relationship. Both the original employer and the host employer have a dual responsibility to protect the seconded employee's rights. Even where the employee is not party to the secondment agreement between employers, the employee is entitled to know the terms and conditions of the secondment, and both employers must ensure the employee's rights are not violated.
Contract of Employment — Proof of Oral Contract
Oral contracts of employment have the same weight as written contracts and must comply with the four elements of a contract: offer and acceptance, intention to create a legal and binding relation, consideration, and legal capacity. The burden of proving an oral contract exists falls on the party alleging its existence, who must prove the terms of the agreement, the intentions of the parties, and the scope of the contract.
Termination of Employment — Notice Requirements — Summary Dismissal
Before terminating an employee, an employer must give notice in accordance with section 57 of the Employment Act 2006. An employer is only entitled to summarily dismiss an employee where the employee by his or her conduct shows fundamental breach of the employment contract under section 68, and the employee must be notified of the reason and given an opportunity to make representations in defence. Summary dismissal without notice, reason, or hearing is unlawful and unfair.
Termination by Mutual Agreement — Requirements
Termination of employment by mutual agreement is lawful only where the terms of separation are unequivocal and reduced to writing in a mutual separation agreement, and the parties have voluntarily consented to them. In the absence of evidence of a mutual separation agreement, a claim that employment terminated by mutual consent cannot succeed.
General Damages for Unlawful Dismissal — Compensatory Nature
General damages for unlawful dismissal are compensatory in nature and are awarded to bring the aggrieved party to the position he or she was in before the injury. The remedy for an employee who is unlawfully terminated is an award of general damages in addition to payment in lieu of notice for the non-monetary damages suffered, including pain, suffering, and humiliation.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (16)

  • Akonyev Libya Oil
  • Peter Mafunda v Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (SC No. 6 of 2016)
  • Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 260 of 2019)
  • SMW v DHL Kenya [2023] KEELRC 1468
  • SMW v DHL Kenya (Cause No. 698 of 2019)
  • Godfrey Kyamukama v Makerere University Business School (LDR No. 147 of 2019)
  • Miriam Kasujja v Makerere University and Another (LDC No. 119 of 2014)
  • Ajambo Sylvia v Calvary Chapel Outreach Ministries (LDC No. 052 of 2018)
  • Nader v University Health Network [2022] ONSC 447
  • Stanbic Bank v Hilda Musinginguzi (SCCA No. 5 of 2016)
  • Stanbic Bank v Kiyimba Mutale (SCCA No. 2 of 2010)
  • Uganda Post Ltd v Mukadisi (Civil Appeal No. 13 of 2022)
  • Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd v Asiimwe (Civil Appeal No. 18 of 2018)
  • Frederick J.K Zaabwe v Orient Bank & Others (SCCA No. 4 of 2006)
  • Rookes Bearnard
  • Obongo v Municipal Council Kisumu [1971] EA 91

Full judgment

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

Ssenyonga_Sumaiya_v_Comfort_Homes_Uganda_Limited_(Labour_Reference_No._131_of_2021)_[2025]_UGIC_88_(24_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.