How Hiring That Nanny can drag You to Jail

The newly published regulations setting the minimum wage for domestic workers threaten to make house-helps the preserve of a few rich households, if homes were to stick to the law.

The regulations has set the minimum monthly salaries a domestic worker should be paid in every major town, compulsory weekly off days and/or overtime compensation.

Acting labour secretary Raychelle Omamo has in a legal notice granted all domestic workers in Nairobi a 12 per cent pay increase in their minimum pay, effectively pushing their minimum monthly salary to Sh10,954 from Sh9,781 last year.

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TWO DAYS OFF-DUTY

The house helps are also allowed a mandatory weekly 2 day break. Failure to grant this compulsory  paid leave, the employer will have to pay the househelp at the rate of Sh527 per day or an additional Sh4,216 a month.

Adding that to the basic minimum salary of Sh10,954, means domestic workers who do not get 48 hours off a week will earn not less than Sh15,170 a month – nearly matching, if not surpassing the pay of many low-cadre workers in government and the private sector.

These rates apply to those working in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu while those in other urban centers will be required to pay Sh10,107 monthly.

JAIL TERM

Any employer found in breach of the new rules risks serving a jail term of up to three months, a fine of Sh50,000 or both.

Regulations setting minimum pay for domestic workers were introduced in 2011 to align the country with the stringent International Labour Organisation (ILO) proposals, aimed at improving the working conditions for those employed in the informal economy.

Therefore before hiring that nanny you so much need to take care of your baby, be aware of this regulation. And if you can't afford one (which is the most likely scenario) then you better think of baby sitting your child at home alone.