Thursday, August 14, 2025 - The United States has raised concerns over Kenya’s failure to effectively enforce labour rights, leaving millions of workers vulnerable to unsafe and unfair conditions.
In its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,
the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour
cited gaps in implementing wage, hour, overtime, and occupational safety laws.
“The Ministry of Labour did not effectively enforce wage,
hour, overtime, and OSH laws. Penalties for violations were not commensurate
with those for comparable offences,” the report noted.
While formal sector employers generally complied with safety
rules, enforcement in the informal economy - where over 80 percent of Kenya’s
workforce operates - was described as “a problem.”
The Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services
(DOHSS), empowered to inspect factories and work sites, faces severe staffing
shortages.
The report found that inspectors are too few, lack
nationwide coverage, and are tasked with both safety and wage enforcement.
Although the law allows unannounced inspections and grants
inspectors authority to destroy hazardous materials or halt dangerous
activities, the scale of the informal sector leaves most workers beyond
effective oversight.
The report also pointed to prosecution delays, noting that
the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which took over labour cases
in 2020, struggles with backlogs.
The findings cast doubt on Kenya’s ability to meet labour
protection standards for its informal workforce.
“The Government did not inspect or enforce violations in the
informal sector,” the report concluded.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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