Redundancy Procedure In Kenya

By Perminus Wainaina,

What is the redundancy procedure in Kenya according to the Employment ACT 2007?

Before we get right into it, it’s important we first understand what the law says about redundancy.

Redundancy is defined under Section 2 of the Employment Act 2007 as the loss of an employee’s occupation, job or career through the employer’s initiative where the services of the employee are no longer needed due to various reasons that I will highlight below.

Examples of instances when you can declare a position in your company redundant are:

  1. If you are closing the business because of various reasons like financial challenges 
  2. If you are trying to reduce your company’s size or even doing a reorganizing of the entire office 

However, you don’t just wake up and decide that employer A or B should go.

There is a redundancy procedure that you should follow to ensure that you remain within the law in case your decision is challenged in court.

Let’s have a look…

When you’ve finally reached a decision that employee A or B’s position should cease to exist, there is a procedure you have to follow according to Section 2 of the ACT.

The first procedure is to

  1. Notify the employee that you intend to end their contract

This is a very important step to prepare the employee that mind about their end of employment.

According to the ACT, you are required to give the employee together with their union or labor officer a written notification at least one month before the said redundancy begins.

For example if your employee is a clinical officer and a member of Kenya clinical officers Association, you are required to notify the union directly together with the labor officer in charge 30 days before the redundancy begins.

  1. Give out clear reasons why the position is being declared redundant

You need to explain in a written form why you are terminating the employee’s contract and give good reasons why that position is being considered less needed in the company.

This is just the procedure. There is no other way.

This notice should have the reasons why the positions is no longer needed, more information the why the redundancy is happening and the date on which the services of the employee cease to be needed due to the redundancy.

  1. Select the employees to be affected through a fair process.

Remember that this not a time to get rid of that employee that you dislike.

The formula you use to select an employee that will be affected by the redundancy process should be clearly outlined and documented in case of any challenges of lawsuits.

This said,

It’s important to note that when you are ending an employee’s contract on redundancy basis you have to;

  • Notify all employees on the redundancy in writing
  • Select the employees to be affected after checking their abilities and skills using the same criteria for all employees – process must be fair
  • Give a 30 day notification to the labour office, union and employee
  • Consult with the employees who will affected by the redundancy
  • Pay all pending leave in cash to the employee declared redundant
  • And finally pay the redundant employees a severance pay of not less than 15 days’ pay for each year of completed year of complete service.

For more on Labor law advice, Click here and be informed about your requirements as an employer.

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