Employment Act

This section says the Act may be cited as the Employment Act.

This Act applies to the private sector, the Government, and public authorities or enterprises, but not to the armed forces, prisons service, or police unless they are employed in a civilian capacity.

This section defines key terms used in the Act, including Commissioner, Court, employee, employer, forced labour, industrial undertakings, labour officer, remuneration, and wage.

No person may be forced to do forced labour, and anyone who exacts, imposes, causes, or permits forced labour commits an offence.

No person may discriminate against an employee or prospective employee on listed grounds in hiring and other employment matters.

Employers must pay employees equal pay for work of equal value, without discrimination.

If a complaint of infringement of rights in this Part is proved, the Court must make whatever order it considers necessary to ensure compliance, including reinstatement, restoration of benefits, or compensation.

The Labour Commissioner and labour officers are responsible for administering and enforcing the Act, and the Commissioner may authorize public officers to exercise the Commissioner’s powers in writing.

This section gives labour officers broad powers to enter workplaces, inspect records and samples, question employers and employees, and take steps to address workplace health and safety defects, with limits on entering an employer’s private home.

A labour officer must tell the employer or the employer’s representative that they are present during an inspection visit, unless doing so would hinder the officer’s duties.

An employer must let an employee communicate freely with a labour officer and, if requested, provide reasonable assistance to the labour officer.

Employers must not disadvantage an employee because of something the employee did under this Part.

Labour officers must keep certain information confidential and must not reveal protected secrets or complaint-related inspection details.

A labour officer must not have any direct or indirect interest in undertakings under the officer’s supervision.

A labour officer must consider the size, capitalization, and formality of supervised undertakings and try to help smaller, informal enterprises understand and comply with the Act and related employment laws.

Labour officers must report inspections to the Regional Labour Officer, and the Regional Labour Officer must forward reports to the Commissioner every three months.

The Commissioner must publish an annual general report on the inspection service and circulate it to registered employee and employer organizations.

The annual general report must cover all subjects under the Commissioner’s control.

The Secretary responsible for labour matters must provide each labour officer with an identity card, and the labour officer must produce it when required while carrying out duties under the Act.

A person commits an offence if they obstruct a labour officer, ignore a lawful requirement or order, interfere with an employee’s examination, or fail to produce required records or documents.

People under 14 must not be employed or work in public or private agricultural, industrial, or non-industrial undertakings, subject to limited exceptions.

People aged 14 to 18 must not work in occupations or activities likely to harm them or interfere with school or training. The Minister may publish a notice in the Gazette identifying such occupations or activities.

Every employer must keep a register of workers under 18 years old.

Any person who breaks any provision of this Part commits an offence and can be fined K20,000 and imprisoned for five years.

This section says the Part applies to all employment contracts unless the Act provides otherwise, and that a contract of employment must be one of three forms.

For skilled-worker employment contracts, the parties may agree on a probationary period, but it cannot be longer than 12 months.

Employers must give each employee a written statement of employment particulars.

Employment contracts can end differently depending on their term: an unspecified-period contract may be ended by either party, a fixed-term contract ends on its stated date, and a specific-task contract ends when the task is finished.

Employment contracts without a fixed term may be ended by either party with written notice, and the notice period varies by pay rate and length of service; some unspecified-term contracts can be ended at the close of any day without notice; fixed-term contracts require 14 calendar days' notice.

If notice is not given at termination, the employer must pay the employee the pay and benefits that would have been earned through the notice period. If the employee leaves without required notice and the employer has not waived notice, the employee must pay the employer the same kind of amount, but the employee keeps any accrued pay and benefits at termination.

When employment ends, the employer must give the employee a certificate if the employee asks, and it must not include a work evaluation unless the employee asks for that too.

An employment contract cannot be transferred to another employer without the employee’s consent, unless the business or part of it is sold or otherwise disposed of, in which case the employee’s contract transfers automatically to the transferee.

If the employer dies and the employment contract depended on the employer’s personal or legal position, the contract ends one month after the death unless it is ended sooner under section 57(1).

If an employer’s business becomes insolvent or is wound up, employees’ employment contracts end after one month unless ended earlier under section 57(1); employees’ claims for certain wages and employment payments get priority over other creditors.

Employees are entitled to severance allowance when employment ends for listed redundancy or dismissal reasons, and the employer must pay it at termination.

If an exempt employer’s employee retires, is terminated, or dies, the employer must pay gratuity under Part II of the First Schedule. An employee qualifies after at least three continuous months of employment in a year. The Minister may amend Part II by Gazette notice.

Employers must not make most employees or guards work more than 48 hours a week, and employees may not work more than six consecutive days without at least 24 consecutive hours of rest.

An employer must not require or allow workers to exceed the daily hour limits set for guards, shift workers, and other employees with 5-day or 6-day workweeks.

The Minister may grant a temporary exemption from some or all rules in this Part by Order published in the Gazette.

Overtime is limited by sections 36(4) and 37, and employees must be paid at least higher hourly rates for ordinary, day-off, and holiday overtime.

Employees may get paid leave on a public holiday, and work on a public holiday attracts extra pay, with some exceptions.

This section defines continuous employment and says certain absences do not break it.

If an undertaking, or part of it, is sold, leased, transferred, or otherwise disposed of, the employee’s service with the two successive employers counts as one continuous period with the successor employer.

An employee who is taken on for successive seasonal periods is treated as continuously employed for the total time worked for the same employer.

Employees are entitled to paid annual leave, with minimum days depending on their workweek, and the leave must generally be taken within six months unless deferred by agreement.

The employer must grant the leave on a date it determines, consult the employee, and do so within six months after the relevant leave year ends. The leave cannot overlap with sick leave, maternity leave, or notice of termination. Public holidays in the leave period can extend the leave by one working day with full pay, and unpaid accrued leave must be paid on termination.

Employees become entitled to paid sick leave after 12 months’ continuous service, and employers must pay normal wages during sick leave; employers need not grant sick leave unless the employee provides a registered medical practitioner’s certificate.

A female employee is entitled to at least eight weeks of paid maternity leave every three years, and the employer must grant additional leave if pregnancy- or confinement-related illness is certified by a registered medical practitioner.

After maternity leave, an employee has the right to return to the same job with the same benefits, unless the job no longer exists or she cannot do it; if needed, the employer must try to find a suitable alternative job.

An employer must not terminate an employee’s job because of pregnancy. If it happens, the employer must prove it was for another reason and may face criminal penalties.

Wages must be paid on the contract terms, with minimum payment frequencies depending on how wages are set, and wages cannot be paid in liquor or noxious drugs.

Employers must give employees an itemized written pay statement with each wage payment and keep written wage records for the previous three years. Employees may complain to the District Labour Officer if the employer does not comply.

Employers must not pay wages or make deductions in prohibited ways, and most wage deductions are only allowed for listed exceptions.

Wages and other remuneration owed to an employee when their contract ends must be paid within 7 days.

The Minister may set minimum wages for a group of wage earners after consulting worker and employer organizations, and must review those wages at least every three years.

Minimum wages set under section 54 cannot be reduced, but collective agreements may set higher wages.

An employer may take reasonable disciplinary action other than dismissal, but may not impose fines or other monetary penalties on an employee.

An employer may dismiss an employee only for a valid reason, and must usually give the employee a chance to answer allegations first.

A dismissal is unfair if it does not comply with section 57 or if it is a constructive dismissal under section 40.

An employer may summarily dismiss an employee for serious misconduct or other listed grounds.

An employee may end the employment contract without notice, or on shorter notice, if the employer’s conduct makes it unreasonable to keep working.

Employers must give the reason for dismissal in a dismissal claim or complaint, and failure to do so leads to a conclusive presumption that the dismissal was unfair.

An employee may complain to the District Labour Officer about unfair dismissal within 3 months of dismissal.

If the Court finds an unfair dismissal complaint is well founded, it must award one or more remedies such as reinstatement, re-engagement, or compensation.

People with employment-related disputes may bring them to a labour officer, complain to the District Labour Officer, or go to court where allowed; labour officers and the District Labour Officer have roles in resolving or prosecuting the matter, and unions or employers’ organisations may represent the person.

The Court must handle certain complaints under section 64 using the Labour Relations Act and the Court’s procedure and remedies rules.

If someone breaches an Act provision that has no specific offence, or commits an offence with no specific penalty, they are liable to a K5,000 fine and one year’s imprisonment.

The Minister may make regulations under this Act, after consulting organizations of employers and employees.

Listed laws in the Second Schedule are repealed, but existing subsidiary legislation generally continues unless it conflicts with this Act.

Employers must treat employees’ accrued severance entitlement under this transitional rule as pension dues or, in some cases, gratuity, and must calculate it using the stated formula and service bands.