When a strike is legal, and what happens to your job and pay
Labour Relations Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
A strike is protected only if it is over terms of employment or union recognition, the dispute is still unresolved after conciliation, and the union has given 7 days' written notice to the employer and the Labour Cabinet Secretary. You can't be dismissed for a protected strike, but you aren't paid for the days you don't work, and strikes in essential services like water, hospitals and fire services are banned.
- Deadline
- At least 7 days' written notice before the strike starts.
- Deadline
- Conciliation runs for 30 days from the conciliator's appointment unless both sides agree to more time.
- Where
- Your trade union first; the Ministry of Labour for conciliation; the Employment and Labour Relations Court for disputes over whether a strike is lawful
Steps
- The union or employer reports the trade dispute to the Labour Cabinet Secretary in the prescribed form, so that a conciliator can be appointed.
- Go through conciliation. The dispute counts as unresolved once the conciliator certifies it, or 30 days after the conciliator was appointed (longer if both sides agree).
- The union's authorised representative gives 7 days' written notice of the strike to the employer and the Labour Cabinet Secretary.
- If there is a disagreement over whether a strike is lawful, either side can take it to the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
Watch out
- Even in a protected strike, your employer doesn't have to pay you for the days you don't work.
- Joining a strike that breaks these rules is a breach of your contract: you can be disciplined and you lose pay and benefits for that period.
- No strikes in essential services, which include water supply, hospitals, air traffic control and government fire services. Sympathy strikes and strikes over issues already settled in a binding collective agreement are also banned.
Who this covers
- Every worker has the right to strike under the Constitution, within the rules of the Labour Relations Act.
- The strike notice has to come from the trade union's authorised representative, not from individual workers.
- Workers in a protected strike: the employer may not dismiss or discipline them for taking part.
Official sources (2)
- Labour Relations Act (Cap. 233), version of 31 December 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010 new.kenyalaw.org · read 2 Oct 2026