Immigration Act , Cap 172; the Price Control (Essential Goods) Act , Cap 113; all ensure regulation of the
employment sector in a human rights based approach.
127. The Courts have on several instances reaffirmed the right to form trade unions as was in the Nurses
Union case High Court at Nairobi (Nairobi Law Courts) Seth Panyako vs Kenya Union of Domestic,
Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (2013) eKLR.
128. Courts have also intervened to protect the right to work, for example in the case of a police officer who
was retired ‘on medical grounds’ when he got a physical disability. The High Court ruled that the
employer should have reassigned the petitioner and instituted reasonable accommodation measures to
enable him continue working as a police officer in Paul Pkiach Anupa & Another vs Attorney General
& Another (2012)eKLR . In the case Aviation Services Workers Union v Kenya Airways Ltd (2012)
eKLR – the industrial court reinstated 447 workers who Kenya Airways had declared redundant.
129. Some of the administrative measures that the Government has put in place include the establishment
of a National Poverty Centre that among other things undertakes mapping and provides policy advice
on how to deal with poverty. There is the National Integrated Framework for Employment Creation
and Social Protection. The Government has constructed four multi-purpose dams for sustainable
utilization and management of basin based resources. Further, there is the Youth Enterprise
Development Fund which seeks to establish a Youth Bank. There are plans to enhance entrepreneurial
training. Women are being trained on the formation of co-operatives and financial management ran by
the Women Enterprise Development Fund as a way of empowering them.
130. The Government has established State agencies with a mandate to ensure that minimum work
standards apply within the informal sector. This is geared towards ensuring that the situation of
workers in informal employment is gradually improved through their inclusion in social protection
schemes and health schemes. For example, workers with minimal earnings can now join the National
Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
131. The Employment Act Cap 226, as well as the Occupational Health and Safety Act Cap 514, Laws of Kenya
apply in export processing zones as much as they apply to employers outside such zones. The
Government has set a minimum wage which is responsive to the high cost of living. The State
undertakes on an annual basis a review of the minimum wage applicable to different cadre of workers.
Under the Labour Institutions Act, Cap 234, Laws of Kenya the Government constitutes Wages Councils
to deal with emerging sectors of the economy. These include: the Protective Security Services Wages
Council which was reconstituted in August 2012 to take care of the workers in the private security
sector. In addition the Floricultural Wages Council continues to address issues affecting workers in the
flower industry. The State has taken concerted actions to ensure that domestic workers who tend to be
particularly vulnerable do get a minimum wage.
132. Kenya also has the Labour Office whose duties include the administration, co-ordination,
implementation and enforcement of the Country’s Labour Policy, laws and Regulations. The Central
Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) is the umbrella body for trade unions in Kenya and the
Confederation of Public Service Trade Unions of Kenya who negotiate tripartite agreements on behalf
of their members that have led to improved terms for workers, increased awareness on labour rights,
career advancement through various training programs, and merit based employment.
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