The Employment and Labour Relations Court sees a steady pattern: an employer with a genuine reason to dismiss, who then loses because the process was wrong. Notice was not given, no hearing was held, the employee was not allowed to be accompanied, or the reason recorded at the time does not match the reason advanced at trial. The underlying decision may well have been justified. Under the Employment Act, 2007 that is not sufficient on its own.
The same is true of restructuring. Redundancy in Kenya has statutory requirements around notification, selection and payment, and a redundancy that is genuine in substance can still be found unfair if the steps were skipped or compressed. Employers under commercial pressure tend to move quickly, and speed is precisely what creates the exposure.
The third area is statutory compliance, which has changed materially. Since October 2024 employers deduct 2.75% of gross salary for SHIF and remit to the Social Health Authority by the 9th of the following month, with a minimum of KES 300 and no upper limit. Late payment attracts a 2% penalty, and failure to remit or making unauthorised deductions carries a fine of up to KES 2 million or up to three years' imprisonment. This is one of the few employment obligations with personal criminal exposure attached, and it is administered by payroll rather than by anyone with legal oversight.
Areas of work
Employer-side employment work
Employment contracts
Contracts that comply with the Employment Act's requirements on written particulars, and that deal properly with probation, confidentiality, IP ownership and post-termination restraints.
ExploreExecutive and senior appointments
Service agreements for senior hires: notice, garden leave, incentives, restrictive covenants and the exit terms it is far easier to agree at appointment than at departure.
Contract review and audit
Reviewing an existing contract population against current law, which for most employers has drifted — particularly where templates predate recent statutory changes.
ExploreHR policies and employee handbooks
Disciplinary, grievance, leave, remote working, harassment and data protection policies, drafted so they can actually be followed under pressure and relied on afterwards.
Workplace investigations
Independent investigation of misconduct, harassment and whistleblowing complaints, conducted so the findings hold up if the outcome is later challenged.
Explore 06Disciplinary process and dismissal
Running a disciplinary process that satisfies the Employment Act: valid reason, notice of the allegations, a hearing, the right to be accompanied, and a decision recorded contemporaneously.
Explore 07Redundancy and retrenchment
Redundancy handled to the statutory requirements — notification, objective selection, consultation and the payments due — with the documentation that evidences each step.
ExploreWorkforce restructuring
Reorganisations, changes to terms, TUPE-style transfers on a business sale, and managing the employment consequences of an acquisition or a site closure.
Statutory payroll compliance
SHIF, NSSF and PAYE obligations, registration, remittance deadlines and the personal exposure that attaches to non-remittance. Frequently the largest unquantified liability in a diligence exercise.
Contractors, consultants and classification
The employee-or-contractor question, which Kenyan courts decide on the substance of the relationship rather than the label. Misclassification brings back-dated statutory liabilities.
Gig and platform work
Arrangements for platform and gig workers, where the classification risk is highest and the commercial model usually depends on the answer.
Employee incentives and equity
Share option schemes, phantom equity and bonus arrangements, structured so they work under Kenyan company and tax law rather than being lifted from a foreign plan.
Workplace health and safety
Obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, risk assessment and incident response, and the work injury benefits position when something goes wrong.
Explore 14Employment disputes and ELRC claims
Defending unfair termination, discrimination and unpaid dues claims in the Employment and Labour Relations Court, and negotiating settlements where that is the better outcome.
ExploreThe law that applies
The employer's obligations under Kenyan law
Kenyan employment law is largely statutory and largely procedural. These are the instruments that most often determine whether an employer's decision is upheld, and the payroll obligations that carry the sharpest penalties.
Employment Act, 2007
The core statute: written particulars of employment, wages, statutory leave, and the requirements for a fair termination. It requires both a valid reason and a fair procedure — notification of the allegations, a hearing, and the opportunity to be accompanied. An employer with a good reason and a bad process generally loses.
Employment Act, 2007 — redundancy
Redundancy carries specific statutory requirements including notification, objective and fair selection, notice, and payment of severance in addition to accrued dues. A redundancy that is genuine commercially can still be unfair if these steps are compressed or undocumented.
Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF)
From October 2024 employers deduct 2.75% of each employee's monthly gross salary and remit it to the Social Health Authority by the 9th of the following month, subject to a minimum of KES 300 and no upper limit. Employers must register themselves and their employees with the Authority.
Late payment attracts a 2% penalty on the unpaid amount. Failing to remit, or making unauthorised deductions, carries a fine of up to KES 2 million or up to three years' imprisonment, or both. From 2026 SHIF is deducted before PAYE is calculated.
Labour Relations Act, 2007
Governs trade unions, recognition agreements, collective bargaining and industrial action, including the procedural requirements before a strike or lockout is lawful. Relevant to any unionised workforce and to restructuring that touches one.
Employment and Labour Relations Court Act, 2011
Establishes the specialist court with jurisdiction over employment disputes. Remedies for unfair termination include compensation and, in principle, reinstatement, and the court assesses the fairness of the procedure as closely as the substance of the decision.
Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007 and the Work Injury Benefits Act, 2007
Impose duties to provide a safe workplace, assess risk and report incidents, and establish the compensation framework for workplace injury. Obligations apply to the workplace itself, so they reach employers who assume they are only relevant to industrial settings.
Who we act for
Who we advise on employment matters
Employers and companies
Managing a workforce and needing contracts, policies and processes that will withstand a challenge in the ELRC.
Founders and boards
Growing quickly, hiring ahead of process, and now carrying employment risk that has not been assessed.
HR leaders
Running a disciplinary, investigation or redundancy process and wanting the procedure confirmed before the decision is taken rather than after.
Businesses restructuring
Reducing headcount, changing terms or reorganising, and needing the statutory requirements met without stalling the commercial timetable.
Platforms and gig economy businesses
Engaging workers outside the traditional employment relationship, where classification determines the viability of the model.
Foreign employers in Kenya
Employing Kenyan staff from abroad and needing local contracts, payroll registrations and an understanding of what differs from the home jurisdiction.
Get the process right before you act
Tell us the situation and what outcome you need. We will set out the procedure that makes it defensible, and what the exposure looks like if it is challenged.
How we work
How an employment instruction runs
- 01
Position review
We look at the contract, the policies, the personnel file and what has actually happened, then tell you what the realistic exposure is before any step is taken.
- 02
Process design
The procedure that needs to be followed for the outcome you want to be defensible — set out step by step, with the documents to be issued at each stage.
- 03
Execution support
Drafting the letters, briefing whoever chairs the hearing, and staying available while the process runs rather than reviewing it afterwards.
- 04
Resolution
Settlement negotiation where that is the commercially better outcome, or defence of the claim in the ELRC where it is not.
Common questions
Questions we are asked most
What makes a termination fair under Kenyan law?
Two things, and both are required. There must be a valid reason — related to conduct, capacity, compatibility or the employer's operational requirements — and a fair procedure must be followed. Procedure means notifying the employee of the allegations in a form they can respond to, holding a hearing, allowing them to be accompanied by a colleague or union representative, genuinely considering their response, and recording the decision at the time. Employers most often lose on the second limb while being entirely right on the first.
What are our SHIF obligations as an employer?
Since October 2024 you must register with the Social Health Authority, register your employees, deduct 2.75% of each employee's monthly gross salary, and remit by the 9th of the following month. The minimum contribution is KES 300 per month and there is no upper limit, so high earners contribute 2.75% of the full gross. Late payment attracts a 2% penalty, and failing to remit or making unauthorised deductions carries a fine of up to KES 2 million or up to three years' imprisonment. From 2026 SHIF is deducted before PAYE is calculated.
How do we carry out a redundancy properly in Kenya?
The Employment Act sets out requirements including notification, fair and objective selection criteria applied consistently, notice, and payment of severance in addition to accrued leave and other dues. The two failures we see most often are selection criteria that are decided after the individuals have been chosen, and a timetable compressed to the point where consultation is not meaningful. Both convert a commercially genuine redundancy into an unfair termination claim, so the process should be designed before anyone is told.
Can we engage people as contractors instead of employees?
You can, but the label does not determine the outcome. Kenyan courts look at the substance of the relationship — control over how and when the work is done, integration into the business, whether the person can send a substitute, who provides the tools, and whether they bear any commercial risk. If the relationship has the characteristics of employment it will be treated as employment, with back-dated statutory contributions, leave entitlements and potential unfair termination exposure. For platform and gig models this analysis usually determines whether the model works at all.
Do we need written employment contracts?
Yes. The Employment Act requires written particulars of employment, and the absence of a written contract does not mean there is no employment relationship — it means the terms will be established from conduct and from the employee's evidence, which is a materially worse position for an employer in a dispute. A written contract is also the only reliable way to secure confidentiality, intellectual property ownership and any post-termination restraint you intend to rely on.
An employee has raised a harassment complaint. What should we do?
Investigate it properly and promptly, and keep the investigation separate from the decision. That means someone impartial gathering the evidence, interviewing the complainant, the respondent and any witnesses, and producing findings of fact — with the disciplinary decision then taken by someone else on those findings. Employers create liability in two opposite ways here: dismissing a complaint without proper investigation, and pre-judging the outcome before the respondent has answered. Where the allegation is serious or involves a senior person, an independent external investigator is usually the safer course.