What you are owed if you are declared redundant
Employment Act, 2007 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
If your job ends through redundancy, the law says you must get at least 15 days' pay for each full year you worked, one month's notice or one month's wages instead, and cash for any leave you have not taken. Your employer must also tell you (or your union) and the labour officer in advance and choose who goes fairly.
- Deadline
- A court claim must be filed within 3 years of the termination.
- Where
- Your area labour office, or the Employment and Labour Relations Court
Steps
- Work out your minimum dues: 15 days' pay for each completed year, one month's notice or pay, and cash for unused leave.
- If you are not paid, report to the area labour officer, who records the complaint on Form LD 64.
- If it is not settled within 7 days, the labour officer calls you and the employer to a conciliation meeting.
- You can also file a claim at the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
Watch out
- Who goes must be chosen by seniority, skill, ability and reliability within the affected group of workers.
- These rules do not apply when the job ends because the employer is insolvent. A separate part of the Act covers that.
- Untaken leave must be paid in cash. It is not forfeited because of redundancy.
Who this covers
- Employees who lose their job through no fault of their own, at the employer's initiative, because the job is no longer needed.
- Union members: the employer must notify the union and the area labour officer at least a month before the termination date.
- Non-union staff: the employer must notify you personally in writing, and the labour officer.
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