Pay & working terms · 3 min read
Trade union rights in Kenya: joining, leaving and union deductions
Your right to join or leave a union, the protection against being punished for it, how union dues and agency fees are deducted, and how to stop a deduction.
Kenya's Labour Relations Act protects the right to join a trade union, and to stay out of one. It also sets the rules for when an employer may take union dues or an agency fee from your pay. Here is what it says, in order.
Your rights
Every employee has the right to take part in forming a trade union, to join one and to leave one (section 4(1)). Members can take part in lawful union activities, vote in union elections and stand for office (section 4(2)).
Protection for employees and job seekers
Section 5 protects employees and people seeking employment. No one may require you to stay out of a union or leave it, prevent you from exercising your rights under the Act, or dismiss or prejudice you because of union membership or lawful union activity. No one may offer you an advantage in exchange for not using those rights.
That covers job interviews too: an employer may not make it a condition of hiring that you never join a union.
How union dues are deducted
A union can ask the Cabinet Secretary to order an employer with more than five union members to deduct dues from members' wages and pay them to the union (section 48(2)). The employer starts within thirty days of the union serving a notice signed by the employees concerned (section 48(3)).
If you resign from the union and tell your employer in writing, the employer may not deduct dues from you after that (section 48(6)). The resignation takes effect from the following month (section 48(7)).
Agency fees for non-members
Where a union has a collective agreement registered by the Employment and Labour Relations Court covering all unionisable employees, the Cabinet Secretary can order the employer to deduct an agency fee from employees covered by the agreement who are not members (section 49(1)). The fee may not exceed the union's dues (section 49(2)(c)).
Non-members pay because they receive the pay and terms the union negotiated. Check your payslip to see whether a dues or agency fee line appears and which order it follows.
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Frequently asked questions
Can my employer stop me from joining a union?
No. Section 5 of the Labour Relations Act bars requiring an employee or job seeker not to join a union, or punishing them for membership.
How do I stop union dues being deducted?
Resign from the union and notify your employer in writing. Under section 48(6) the employer may not deduct dues after that, from the following month.
What is an agency fee?
A deduction from non-members covered by a registered collective agreement, ordered by the Cabinet Secretary, not exceeding the union's dues (section 49).