Are you owed service pay or gratuity when you leave a job?
Employment Act, 2007 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
If you are paid monthly and your job ends by notice, the Employment Act gives you service pay for every year worked. It does not apply if you are in NSSF, a registered pension or provident fund, a collective agreement gratuity scheme, or a better employer scheme.
- Deadline
- A court claim under the Employment Act must be filed within 3 years.
- Where
- Your employer; the area labour office if you are not paid; the Employment and Labour Relations Court for a claim
Steps
- Check your payslip and contract: if NSSF or a pension or provident fund is deducted, the statutory service pay does not apply and your benefits come from that scheme.
- If you qualify and are not paid, report it to the area labour officer, who records the complaint on Form LD 64.
- The labour officer calls you and the employer to a meeting; if the employer does not come, the officer calculates what is owed and sends a demand notice.
Watch out
- The Act does not set a rate for service pay; it says the terms are to be fixed. Any other gratuity comes from your contract or CBA.
- Redundancy is different: severance pay of at least 15 days' pay for each completed year is due whether or not you are in NSSF.
Who this covers
- Workers paid monthly (or at longer intervals) whose job is ended by notice.
- Not members of NSSF, a registered pension or provident fund, a CBA gratuity scheme, or a more generous employer scheme.
Official sources (2)
- Employment Act (Cap. 226), consolidated new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Handling of Labour Disputes labour.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026