How much notice your employer must give (and what you owe if you resign)
Employment Act, 2007 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
If you are paid monthly, your employer must give you at least 28 days' written notice, and you must give the same if you resign, unless your contract gives a longer period. Paid daily: no notice, the job can end at the close of any day. Either side can pay the wages for the notice period instead of giving notice.
- Deadline
- A court claim under the Employment Act must be filed within 3 years of what happened.
- Where
- Your employer (in writing); the area labour office if notice pay is not paid; the Employment and Labour Relations Court for a claim
Steps
- Give or ask for the notice in writing. For monthly pay, the job ends 28 days after the written notice.
- Instead of notice, either side can pay the other the wages for the notice period.
- If you resign and your employer tells you to leave before your notice ends, they must pay you for the days you did not serve, unless you both agree otherwise.
- If notice or notice pay is not given, report it to the area labour officer, who records it on Form LD 64.
- The labour officer calls you and the employer to a meeting; if the employer does not attend, the officer can calculate what is owed and send a demand notice.
Watch out
- These are minimums. If your contract gives a longer written notice period, the contract applies.
- On probation, either side can end the contract with 7 days' notice, or the employer can pay 7 days' wages instead.
- The law still allows ending a job without notice for a cause the law recognises, such as gross misconduct.
- If you are covered by the Regulation of Wages (General) Order (most non-farm workers), it says every contract can be ended only by at least one month's written notice, or a month's wages instead, which is longer than the Employment Act's 28 days.
Who this covers
- Workers paid monthly (or at longer intervals): 28 days' written notice, either way.
- Workers paid weekly or at other intervals under a month: notice of one pay period, in writing.
- Workers paid daily: either side can end the job at the close of any day without notice.
- A casual worker who works continuously for a month or more is treated as monthly paid, so the 28-day rule applies.
Official sources (3)
- Employment Act (Cap. 226), consolidated new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Handling of Labour Disputes labour.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Regulation of Wages (General) Order (L.N. 120 of 1982) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026