Sick Leave Days In Kenya And The Law

Kenya Labour Law On Sick Leave

You wake up sick and can no longer work. You may need some time off from work so as to be able to seek medical attention you urgently need.

If you are stuck in a situation like this, this is what you need to know as far as your rights as an employee is concerned.

Are Employees Entitled To Sick Leave?
According to section 30 of the employment act 2007, an employee shall be entitled to sick leave of not less than 7 days with full pay.

Who Is Qualified To Paid Sick Leave?
For one to qualify for paid sick leave, he or she must have proof from a medical practitioner that he is unfit to work. The minimum period of entitlement is seven days with full pay and seven days with half-pay for every twelve months.

This is only possible subject to production of a certificate of incapacity to work duly signed by qualified medical practitioner.

However, this is only possible after 2 months of service to an employer and such an employee should be an under a contract of employment.

This is fully explained in section 30 of the employment act 2007,
After two consecutive months of service with his employer, an employee shall be entitled to sick leave of not less than seven days with full pay and thereafter to sick leave of seven days with half pay, in each period of twelve consecutive months of service, subject to production by the employee of a certificate of incapacity to work signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner or a person acting on the practitioner’s behalf in charge of a dispensary or medical aid centre

Medical Care During Sick Leave Days

In accordance with the Employment Act section 34, an employer has to ensure sufficient availability of proper medicines for a worker during illness and, if possible, medical attendance should also be provided during serious illness.

The workers covered under the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act are entitled to medical benefits in the case of hospitalization and these include general medical care, specialist care, medicine, hospitalization, and transportation.

Job Security During Sick Leave Days
If you are worried about losing your job while on sick leave you need not to.

This is because according to the Employment Act 2007 section 46, an employer may not dismiss a worker during his/her period of sick leave, pregnancy or disability because such a dismissal would be unfair.

The Act dictates that as long as the employee follows the required procedure, he or she should not be victimized.
However, there are some instances where an employer can terminate employment of his employee while on sick leave.

The only time when this can happen is when the employee cannot resume work and is incapacitated to the extent that a medical practitioner recommends early retirement.

Also, any employee who is absent from duty must seek official permission as absence from duty without permission is actionable and could result in termination.

As an employee, there is no need to panic if you fall sick as long as you follow the right procedure. 

For consultancy services, email pwainaina@corporatestaffing.co.ke
NB: Please note that this is a paid service.

13 Comments

  1. Hi Per minus,
    When granting sick off to an employee do we count continuous inclusive of Saturdays and Sundays if the employee don’t work on those days.or do we co we count on working days only the same case with paternal leave 14 days.

  2. If your working half a day on a Saturday should it be included as a full day in your leave days or count two Saturdays to make one whole day kindly advise.

  3. Please elaborate more on compassionate leave? Is it deducted from your annual leave days.? Or is given free l.e without affecting your leave days

  4. Hello Joy, the Employment Act is available as a free PDF download here. The law does not give a maximum period as you cannot predict how long an employee is going to be sick, meaning any other period is an agreement between you and your employer.

  5. Hi, where can i get a copy of this Employment Act 2007 and at how much

    Thanks

    Ps. If the minimum is 2 weeks, is there a maximum obviously subject to a medical report duly signed by a certified medical practitioner

  6. Are employees on fixed term contract e.g one year contract entitled to any leave i.e annual, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave

  7. What does the Employment Act say about conversion from casual contract to yearly contracts/permanent staff? I’ve been working for a firm for about 14 months under casual contract. is that right??

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