By John Semakula

The Government has embarked on constituting a minimum wage board to ensure Ugandans get rational salaries from employers.

State minister for labour Mwesigwa Rukuntana said the board is being constituted to give the Government advice on how to fix the minimum wage and when to do it.

He added that his ministry has already drafted the policy and that it will soon be tabled before Cabinet. If endorsed, it will be sent to Parliament.

Rukuntana made the remarks last week while officiating at the closing of a two-day workshop for domestic workers recruitment agents in Kampala.

The training, organised by the Platform for Labour Action, aimed at equipping participants with knowledge on protecting the rights and freedoms of domestic workers.

Rukuntana said the Government would have already fixed a minimum wage, but had reservations.

“We never wanted to jump into fixing the minimum wage and scare away investors and the already existing jobs,” he noted.

“If you fix a minimum wage and there are no jobs, then you have a law that will remain on paper because the employers and employees will reject it.”