Final pay and severance allowance in Uganda: what you are owed when a job ends

The seven day rule

However your employment ends, the Employment Act says you must be paid your wages and any other remuneration and accrued benefits you are entitled to within seven days of the date the employment terminates.

Ask for a final payslip. The Act gives every employee the right to an itemised pay statement with each payment of wages, showing each deduction, its purpose and the net amount.

What your final pay can include

• Wages for the days you worked up to your last day.
• Pay for annual leave you earned but did not take. On termination, the Act entitles you to holiday pay in proportion to the service for which you have not had leave, or compensation instead.
• Notice pay, if your employer ended the contract without giving you the notice you were owed and you accepted payment instead.
• Severance allowance, if one of the situations in the next section applies.
• Any bonus, gratuity or other payment your contract promises when you leave.
• Transport back to the place you were engaged, in some cases. If you were recruited to work more than 100 kilometres from your home, the Act gives you the right to be repatriated at the employer's expense when, for example, your contract term ends or it is terminated because of your sickness or an accident.

When severance allowance is due

Severance allowance is due only if you have been in your employer's continuous service for six months or more and one of these situations applies:

• You were unfairly dismissed.
• You died in your employer's service, other than through your own serious and wilful misconduct. The allowance is then paid to your surviving spouse, or to another dependant the labour officer decides.
• You ended the contract because of physical incapacity that was not caused by your own serious and wilful misconduct.
• Your employer ended the contract because of your physical incapacity.
• Your position was declared redundant.
• A labour officer declared your contract terminated because the employer was unable or refused to pay wages.

How much: one month of salary for each year worked

Before 2026, the Act left the amount of severance to negotiation between the employer and the workers or their union. The amended Act now says the severance allowance is one month of salary for each year worked by the employee. The Act uses the word salary, not gross pay, so check how your contract defines salary and whether it includes allowances.

Monthly salary: UGX 800,000
Years worked: 4
Severance allowance: 4 x 800,000 = UGX 3,200,000

Any gratuity or bonus paid because the job ended is deducted from this amount.

If you worked part of a year, ask your employer or a labour officer how that period will be counted. Any gratuity, bonus or similar payment made when your employment ends is taken into account and deducted from the severance allowance.

Severance must be paid when your employment ends, or when you are given leave pending the end of your employment, whichever comes first. An employer who wilfully and without good cause fails to pay it commits an offence and pays a fine of twice the severance allowance, which goes to the person the allowance is owed to.

When no severance is due

• You were summarily dismissed with justification.
• You were dismissed and unreasonably refused an offer of re-employment at the same place of work on terms and wages no less favourable than before.
• You abandoned your job, or left your place of work without leave for more than three days without giving the employer any explanation.
• The contract that ended was a probationary contract.

An ordinary resignation is not one of the situations listed for severance. Your wages, untaken leave and anything your contract promises are still due.

Certificate of service and NSSF

Ask for a certificate of service. Your employer must provide one on request, showing your names and addresses, the nature of the business, how long you worked there, your position and your wages at the end, and the reason for the termination if you ask for it. The certificate must not contain a judgment on your work; a reference can be given in a separate document.

Your NSSF savings are separate from anything your employer owes you. Check your NSSF statement to make sure contributions were paid for every month up to your last day.

• NSSF Uganda for employees

If the money does not arrive

Write to the employer, list each amount you expect with the reason, and give a date for payment. If there is no answer, complain to a labour officer. A request to recover pay that was wrongfully withheld or deducted must be made to a labour officer within six years of the deduction.

If an employer is unable or refuses to pay wages, a labour officer must, on your application, declare the contract terminated, without affecting your accrued rights. That is also one of the situations in which severance becomes due.

Dear [Name],

My employment as [job title] ended on [date]. Under the Employment Act, my final dues were payable within seven days. I have not yet received:

Wages for [dates]: UGX [amount]
Pay for [number] days of untaken annual leave: UGX [amount]
[Notice pay or severance allowance]: UGX [amount]

Please pay these amounts by [date] and send me a final payslip and a certificate of service.

Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Phone number]

• How to file a labour complaint in Uganda

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