Employment and Labour Relations Law

The employment relationship between an employer and employees is based on the foundation of trust and interdependence. Good employee relations can empower employees to develop a sense of ownership towards their work thereby being more productive which invariable benefits the employer.

Employment law in Kenya is complex and, at times, contradictory as it is broadly based on the concept of fairness, which allows for varying judicial interpretations and certain judicial liberties in the absence of distilled regulations or guidelines on certain aspects of the law ranging from remedies for unfair labour practices, restrictive covenants to restructurings and mergers and acquisitions.

We assist clients with a number of  areas including:

We engage with trade unions and bargaining councils, and devising negotiation strategies on negotiations of terms and conditions of employment and drafting and interpreting collective agreements. Additionally we provide advice on managing strikes including establishing picketing rules.

Our lawyers are experienced in designing, drafting and implementing bonus schemes, employee share schemes and other incentive arrangements as well as advising on all aspects of employees tax. Our employees tax offering includes general advisory work as well as advice related to expatriates and seconded employees, tax implications upon termination, and employee incentive schemes.

Processing employee data is increasingly risky, as regulators and data subject become increasingly vigilant about how that data is processed and hefty fines are imposed for breaches.

Our data protection experience includes, in particular:

• advice and support in connection with transfer of personal data outside Kenya;
• implementing employee data protection (including security policies and trainings, privacy consents, cyber security issues, internal investigations, global HR data bases, etc.);
• advising on access to personal data in the context of internal investigations.
• advising clients in the event of data loss and data breach and dealing with privacy regulators; and

We cover the full range of employment-related disputes: from termination of employment and whistleblowing claims to the theft of confidential information and enforcement of restrictive covenants.

We also handle disputes involving pensions and industrial relations matters.

Our lawyers can help you manage a downsizing, providing strategic support and co-ordination where needed. We also have experience in advising on alternatives to downsizing including finding ways to control employment costs without reducing staff numbers.

Additionally, we help clients create a more efficient corporate structure, for example by setting up shared-service centres, outsourcing or carrying out a cross-border merger.

We provide guidance on employee investigations, compliance issues and whistleblowing. We support clients in dealing with conflicting internal stakeholder expectations as to how to manage an investigation, balancing regulatory and employment obligations, the disciplinary process, employee monitoring and timing issues.