What The 12% Minimum Wage Increment Means For The Ordinary Kenyan Worker

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday declared an increase in the minimum wage by 12 percent. Almost everybody, especially those in the informal sector, is happy about the move, which is supposedly aimed at cushioning the country’s workforce against the rising cost of living.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a minimum wage is the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract.

Who is affected by the Minimum wage Increment?

The increment only affects workers who are not members of unions, i.e., those who are not beneficiaries of their respective bargaining agreements.

Their minimum wage is set depending on the sector and where they work.

For instance, the minimum wage for Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu was 13,572 shillings before the increment and has now shot to between 15,201.64 shillings after the increment.

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A farm clerk will take home 14,583 shillings from 12,152 shillings, WHILE general workers in former municipalities will be taking home 14,026 shillings every month from 12,523 shillings.

Meanwhile, tailors and drivers of medium-sized firms will pocket 25,805 from 23,039 shillings, thus pushing them into the tax bracket.

Skilled and semi-skilled employees will see their minimum monthly wage rise from between 7, 689.85 shillings and 9, 870.85 shillings to between 8, 611.68 shillings and 11, 055.35 shillings

An unskilled laborer in the agricultural sector will take home a minimum of 7,545 shillings per month from 6,736 shillings.

In other towns across the country, the lowest-paid wage laborer will receive 8,110 shillings, which is an increase from 7,241 shillings.

According to Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Deputy Secretary-General Benson Okwar, employers are not compelled to increase the salaries for employees who are earning the minimum wage, but out of goodwill has always affected the increment whenever it is announced.

This means that not all employees will benefit from the increment.

Those who are not affected by the Minimum Wage Increment

Where workers are registered members of unions and are, for example earning at least 40,000 shillings, there will be no effect of the increment. This is because they are already earning above the minimum rate.

The minimum wage in Kenya currently stands at 13,500 shillings since its last review in 2018.

The increment comes amidst rising inflation rates caused by the high cost of basic commodities such as oil and fuel.