Leave days in Kenya under the Employment Act: annual, sick, maternity and how to calculate them

Every kind of leave at a glance

• Annual leave: at least 21 working days on full pay after 12 consecutive months (section 28).
• Sick leave: at least 7 days on full pay, then 7 days on half pay, in each 12 months, after two months' service and with a medical certificate (section 30).
• Maternity leave: three months on full pay (section 29).
• Paternity leave: two weeks on full pay (section 29(8)).
• Pre-adoptive leave: one month on full pay from the day the child is placed with you (section 29A).
• Compassionate leave: set against your earned annual leave, and you may be granted five more days without pay (General Wage Order, paragraph 11).

Civil service adverts from the Public Service Commission give 30 working days of annual leave, so check your own terms if you work in government.

How to calculate your annual leave days

In a full year you get at least 21 working days. If the job ends after two or more completed months in the leave year, multiply your completed months by 1.75 (section 28(1)(b)).

3 completed months x 1.75 = 5.25 days
5 completed months x 1.75 = 8.75 days
8 completed months x 1.75 = 14 days
12 completed months = at least 21 days

Then subtract the leave you've already taken this leave year.

Only completed months count, so 8 months and 20 days counts as 8. Under two completed months, this rule doesn't give you any days. Weekly rest days and public holidays aren't counted as leave: the General Wage Order says annual leave is on top of them (paragraph 9(2)). So 21 working days takes up more than three calendar weeks.

How much money are your leave days worth?

The Act says leave is on full pay, but it gives no formula for turning a monthly salary into a daily rate. Your contract, HR policy or collective agreement may set one, so ask for it in writing. The 225 you may have seen is the divisor for overtime, not for leave. If your employer uses a figure that looks low, ask how it was reached and take the question to a labour officer.

• Final dues in Kenya: what you're owed when a job ends

When you must take your leave

• Your employer can split the 21 days into parts only with your consent (section 28(2)).
• Unless an agreement says otherwise, one part should be at least two uninterrupted working weeks, taken during the 12 months (sections 28(3) and (4)).
• The rest must be taken within 18 months of the end of the leave-earning period (section 28(4)).
• If your contract gives more than 21 days, you and your employer can agree how to use the extra days (section 28(5)).

Being dismissed for going on leave you're entitled to isn't a fair reason (section 46(b)).

Sick leave: two rules that read differently

The Employment Act sets at least 7 days on full pay and 7 on half pay (section 30). The older Regulation of Wages (General) Order reads a maximum of 30 days on full pay and 15 on half pay (paragraph 12). Section 26(2) of the Act says that where terms in other written law are more favourable to you, those terms apply.

We aren't ruling on which applies to you, and that Order doesn't apply to farm workers. If your employer has stopped at 14 days and you need more, take both texts to a labour officer. Either way, tell your employer about your absence as soon as you reasonably can, and get a certificate signed by a qualified medical practitioner.

Maternity, paternity and adoption

• Give at least seven days' written notice before maternity leave, or a shorter period if that's reasonable in your case (section 29(4) and (5)).
• Your employer can ask for a medical certificate from a doctor or midwife (section 29(6)).
• When you come back, you have the right to your old job, or a suitable one on terms that aren't worse (section 29(2)).
• You keep your annual leave. Taking maternity leave can't cost you any of it (section 29(7)).
• Dismissal because of pregnancy, or any reason connected with it, is never a fair reason (section 46(a)).
• For pre-adoptive leave, tell your employer in writing at least 14 days before the placement, with the adoption society's papers (section 29A).

The General Wage Order still prints two months of maternity leave and loss of that year's annual leave (paragraph 13). The Act's terms are better, and section 26(2) favours the better term.

If you're refused the leave you're owed

Keep your leave records, payslips and any written refusal. Ask HR in writing how many days it has on record for you. If you can't settle it, go to a labour officer. Any claim under the Act has to start within three years, or within 12 months after a continuing wrong ends (section 89). This is general information, not legal advice.

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