Generate/ERILOGO1.gif About ERI Disclaimer

Kenya - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Nairobi

 

CLIMATE

Kenya’s climate varies from tropical along the coast to arid in the interior.

 

LANGUAGES

English (official), Kiswahili (official), and numerous indigenous languages.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Kenya’s legal system is based on English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court. Kenya accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; A constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state was repealed in 1991.

 

CURRENCY

Kenyan Shilling (1 USD = 78.86300 KES as of May 1, 2002).

 

KENYA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

KENYA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at Nairobi

Mombasa Road

P.O. Box 30137

Unit 64100

APO AE 09831

Nairobi, Kenya

Telephone: [254] (2) 537-800

Fax: [254] (2) 537-810

http://usembassy.state.gov/nairobi/

 

Embassy of Kenya at Washington D.C.

2249 R. Street N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 387-6101

Fax: (202) 462-3829

http://www.kenyaembassy.com/

 

KENYA - HOLIDAYS

KENYA – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum of 21 days of annual leave and sick leave (combined).

 

Maternity Leave: Two months – 100% of pay (paid by employer).

 

KENYA - MINIMUM AGE

The employment in industry of children under the age of 16 is illegal; however, the law does not apply to the agricultural sector, where approximately 70 percent of the labor force is employed, nor to children serving as apprentices under the terms of the Industrial Training Act.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Kenya – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

KENYA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The legal minimum wage for blue-collar workers in the wage sector has 12 separate scales, varying by location, age, and skill level; however, in many industries the minimum wage equals the maximum wage. The lowest minimum wage is 3,288 shillings per month (approximately $42) in the largest urban areas and 1,535 shillings (approximately $25) in rural areas. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) generally receive a better wage and benefit package than those not covered, including an average of 7,303 shillings per month (approximately $90), a mandated housing allowance of 15 percent, and traditional benefits such as a transport allowance or a "house owner occupier" allowance.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Kenya – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

KENYA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

KENYA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The law provides that all workers are free to join unions of their choice; however, the Police Act prohibits members of the national police force from joining unions. Workers employed in export processing zone (EPZ) firms and those who work in many small firms face dismissal if they join unions. On December 10, the Labor Commissioner registered the Union of Kenya Civil Servants, which granted civil servants the right to join unions for the first time since 1980. The law provides that as few as seven workers may establish a union, so long as the objectives of the union do not contravene the law and no union is representing the employees in question already.

 

Unions must apply to and be granted registration by the Government. The Government also may deregister a union, but the Registrar of Trade Unions must give the union 60 days to challenge the deregistration notice. An appeal of the Registrar's final decision may be brought before the High Court.

 

There were 41 unions representing approximately 600,000 workers, approximately one-third of the country's formal-sector work force. All but 5 of these unions, representing approximately 250,000 workers, are affiliated with the one approved national federation--the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU). The largest non-COTU union is the 240,000-member Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT). The COTU leadership generally does not pursue workers' rights vigorously; however, most affiliates chose to remain rather than give up its even minimal support. As a result, most union activity takes place at the shop steward level and not at the industrial level where most labor-related decisions are made. This places the average worker at a disadvantage in disputes with management. Many COTU unions evolved into de facto ethnic groupings; however, this was no longer the case during the year.

 

The Government created COTU in 1965 as the successor to the Kenya Federation of Labor and the Kenya African Workers' Congress. COTU's constitution gives the President the power to remove COTU's three senior leaders from office and grants nonvoting membership on the executive board to representatives of the Ministry of Labor and of KANU. Although the board is composed of the leadership of affiliated unions, it is common for political parties, especially KANU, to provide funding and other support for the election of senior union officials.

 

In August Frances Atwoli, the leader of the Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union, was elected Secretary General of COTU. Atwoli, who replaced the incumbent of 15 years, pledged to end corruption within the union and to remove the provisions in COTU's constitution that grant seats on COTU's board to government and ruling party officials.

 

The law permits workers to strike, provided that 21 days have elapsed following the submission of a written letter to the Minister of Labor. By law members of the military services, police, prison guards, and members of the National Youth Service may not strike. Other civil servants, like their private sector counterparts, can strike following the 21-day notice period (28 days if it is an essential service, such as water, health, education, or air traffic control). During this 21-day period, the Minister may mediate the dispute, nominate an arbitrator, or refer the matter to the Industrial Court, a body of five judges appointed by the President, for binding arbitration. Once a dispute is referred to mediation, factfinding, or arbitration, any subsequent strike is illegal. Moreover, the act gives the Minister of Labor broad discretionary power to determine the legality of any strike.

 

In past years, the Minister used this power to declare strikes by bank workers and teachers illegal, although the required notice had been given; however, there were no such incidents during the year. In 1997 the KNUT called a nationwide strike, which the Government quickly settled with pay increases of more than 200 percent spread more than 5 years, rather than risk antagonizing the influential teachers before the election. The Government's failure to implement the second of the promised pay hikes resulted in a 1998 KNUT strike, which the Government declared illegal. The strike ended after 15 days when the Government refused to renegotiate. In 2000 Dr. Gitu, the Ministry of Labor's Permanent Secretary, admitted that the Government should not have agreed to pay the 1997 salary package for teachers. The Government and the KNUT remain in sporadic negotiation regarding the implementation of the agreed-upon salaries; however, the contracted pay hikes have not been paid, and relations between the KNUT and the Govrnment continue to be poor.

 

In 2000, the last year for which statistics are available, there were 41 strikes involving 17,794 workers and resulting in the loss of 51,171 cumulative days of work. Most strikes were due to unpaid wage arrears and involved local government and manufacturing workers. During the year, there were several strikes; most lasted 1 or 2 days, and some involved violence on the part of the strikers, usually in an attempt to keep other workers off the job. There were no reports that strikers were dispersed forcibly.

 

Workers' rights groups continue to raise the general problem of the Government's harshness towards labor with the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association. In June the Government inaugurated a tripartite Labor Law Reform Task Force (labor, government, and private sector) to conduct workshops on ILO core labor standards.

 

The COTU is affiliated internationally with both the Organization of African Trade Union Unity and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Many of its affiliates are linked to international trade secretariats.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

While not having the force of law, the Industrial Relations Charter, executed by the Government, the COTU, and the Federation of Kenya Employers, gives workers the right to engage in legitimate trade union organizational activities. Both the Trade Disputes Act and the charter authorize collective bargaining between unions and employers. Wages and conditions of employment are established in negotiations between unions and management. The Government permits wage increases of up to 100 percent and renegotiation of collective agreements; however, the law allows employers in ailing industries to dismiss workers regardless of the provisions of their collective bargaining agreements. Collective bargaining agreements must be registered with the Industrial Court in order to ensure adherence to these guidelines.

 

The law prohibits employers from intimidating workers. Employees wrongfully dismissed for union activities can take their cases to the Industrial Court, and many have been awarded damages in the form of back pay--reinstatement is not a common remedy. More often aggrieved workers have found alternative employment in the lengthy period prior to the hearing of their cases.

 

With the exception of the Factories Act, all labor laws, including the right to organize and bargain collectively, apply in the EPZ's. However, the EPZ Authority and the Government grant many exemptions to applicable laws. For example, the Government waived aspects of the law that prevent women from working in industrial activities at night. In practice workers in EPZ firms may face dismissal if they join unions. In August the Textile and Tailors Union alleged widespread intimidation of workers seeking to unionize at a foreign-owned EPZ firm; however, the employer stated that the union had forged the signatures of workers supporting unionization. The leader of the union was arrested, and the case was pending before the court at year's end.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution proscribes slavery, servitude, and forced labor; however, under the Chiefs' Authority Act, a local authority can require persons to perform community services in an emergency. The ILO Committee of Experts has found that these and other provisions of the law contravene ILO Conventions 29 and 105 concerning forced labor. The law remains in effect; however, attempts by chiefs to institute arbitrary community service during the year were overruled by the Government. Some observers allege that prison officials use free prison labor for personal profit.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, there reportedly were instances during the year, especially in rural areas, of children being loaned out as workers to pay off family debts.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The employment in industry of children under the age of 16 is illegal; however, the law does not apply to the agricultural sector, where approximately 70 percent of the labor force is employed, nor to children serving as apprentices under the terms of the Industrial Training Act. Ministry of Labor officers nominally enforce the minimum age statute, and the Government is making efforts to eliminate child labor, working closely with the COTU and the ILO's International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor. According to an unpublished survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics, there are 1.9 million children who work in the country, 1.4 million of whom are employed full time and 500,000 of whom work while attending school; however, the number of child laborers may be as high as 5 million. The problem has received considerable media attention for several years.

 

Children often work as domestic servants in private homes. There are many instances of children working in the informal sector, mostly in family businesses. Children usually assist parents on family plots rather than seek employment on their own. However, deteriorating economic conditions and the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic have given rise to more child labor in the informal sector, which is difficult to monitor and control. During the year, there were reports of abuse of children serving as domestic employees. A significant number of workers on coffee, sugar, and rice plantations are children, who usually work in family units. In addition a large number of underage children were active in the sex industry and in the salt harvesting industry along the coast. In view of the high levels of adult unemployment and underemployment, the employment of children in the formal industrial wage sector in violation of the Employment Act is less common but not unknown.

 

On July 5, Parliament ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor; implementing regulations were being drafted at year's end. In September the Ministry of Labor created a Child Labor Office under the Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services. Many NGO's also are active in this area. An ILO-sponsored COTU program has facilitated the return of 562 child laborers to school and trained 1,100 shop stewards on the prevention of child labor since 1997. An NGO working with COTU and the Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union has facilitated the return of another 962 child laborers to school since 1999.

 

The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, there reportedly were instances in which it occurred, primarily in rural areas, as a form of family debt repayment.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The legal minimum wage for blue-collar workers in the wage sector has 12 separate scales, varying by location, age, and skill level; however, in many industries the minimum wage equals the maximum wage. The lowest minimum wage is $42 (3,288 shillings) per month in the largest urban areas and $25 (1,535 shillings) in rural areas. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) generally receive a better wage and benefit package than those not covered, including an average of $90 (7,303 shillings) per month, a mandated housing allowance of 15 percent, and traditional benefits such as a transport allowance or a "house owner occupier" allowance.

 

The minimum wage is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most workers relied on second jobs, subsistence farming, informal sector opportunities, or the extended family for additional support.

 

The law limits the normal workweek to 52 hours, although nighttime employees may be employed for up to 60 hours per week. Some categories of workers have a shorter workweek. As is the case with respect to minimum wage limitations, the law specifically excludes agricultural workers. An employee in the nonagricultural sector is entitled to 1 rest day per week. There also are provisions for 21 days of annual leave and sick leave. The law also provides that the total hours worked (regular time plus overtime) in any 2-week period for night workers not exceed 144 hours; the limit is 120 hours for other workers. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing these regulations, and there were few reports of violations. Workers in some enterprises claimed that employers forced them to work extra hours without overtime pay. Foreign workers are covered by the same legislation and work rules as citizens.

 

The Factories Act sets forth detailed health and safety standards; however, a 1990 decree by the Minister of Finance excludes EPZ's from the Act's provisions. The Ministry of Labor's Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services (DOHSS) have the authority to inspect factories and work sites; however, the DOHSS lacks statutory authority to inspect factories in the EPZ's. Labor and NGO's continued to criticize health and safety conditions in the EPZ's.

 

The 65 DOHSS health and safety inspectors may issue notices enjoining employers from practices or activities that involve a risk of serious personal injury. Such notices can be appealed to the Factories Appeals Court, a body of four members, one of whom must be a High Court judge. The number of factory inspections has increased significantly since 1992. The law stipulates that factories that employ at least 20 persons have a health and safety committee with representation from workers. However, according to the Government, less than half of even the very largest factories have instituted health and safety committees. Workers are not forced by law to remain in hazardous conditions; however, many would be reluctant to remove themselves because of the high unemployment problem and the resulting risk of loss of their job.

 

The law protects both legal and illegal foreign workers.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

Although there are no laws that specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, there are applicable laws against kidnaping and abduction that potentially could be used to prosecute traffickers. In January authorities arrested and deported six Sudanese on suspicion of running an operation to smuggle Kenyans to the Middle East for work. In previous years, there were unverified reports that citizens were trafficked to Saudi Arabia under the guise of employment opportunities, and that South Asians were trafficked into the country to work in sweatshops. In 1999 the People newspaper published an article about the experiences of several Kenyan women who had been misled into accepting jobs in the Middle East, only to work in what they described as "modern slavery."

 

The Government does not have any programs that specifically target trafficking; however, several NGO's provide service to persons who may have been victims of trafficking.

 

KENYA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

KENYA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law limits the normal workweek to 52 hours. However, nighttime employees may be employed for up to 60 hours per week. Some categories of workers have a shorter workweek. As is the case with respect to minimum wage limitations, the law specifically excludes agricultural workers. An employee in the nonagricultural sector is entitled to 1 rest day per week.

 

The law also provides that the total hours worked (regular time plus overtime) in any 2-week period for night workers not exceed 144 hours; the limit is 120 hours for other workers.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Kenya – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)