Taking a rest is important for your physical and mental well-being. In addition to having some time off work just to relax, there are other circumstances which might force you to take some time off. As a result, the government of Kenya has gazetted some important laws which guide employers and employees on how to take some time off work, under different circumstances. It should be noted that these are the legal privileges protected by the law.
This is perhaps the most common and widely known type of leave. According to section 28 of the Kenyan Employment Act, clause Clause 7.8.9, every employee is entitled to 21 annual leave days after one year of service to the company, with full pay. This is calculated as 1.75 working days per month. It does not mean that an employee is not entitled to leave days if they have not completed one year of service. Rather, it means that the employee accrues their leave as per the number of months worked in the company. Therefore, if, for example, you have worked for a company for two months, you are entitled to 3 days of leave thus far. These leave days can be taken in lump or in bits spread across the year, as agreed between the employee and the employer.
Moreover, the law provides that any leave days not redeemed within the year can be carried forward, with the consent of the company and must be redeemed before 31st March, after which they are forfeited. The law further states that the leave days carried forward to the next year should not be more than 10 days.
Therefore, employees must take at least 11 days within the year that they are earned and the remaining 10 days must be taken before 31st March of the following year.
In the event that you fail to take your leave days due to workload, your employer should pay you the equivalent of your leave days at the lapse of the 18 months period up to 31st March. Read more
