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The 2026 domestic staff compliance pack
For any Kenyan household or business employing a nanny, house help, house manager, gardener, watchman or cleaner. Four parts: what you must pay, what sits on top of the wage, a contract you can fill in, and a checklist to work through.
Prepared by Frimak Agency, Westlands, Nairobi · Current as at 2026.
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Please read this first. This pack is a plain-English summary written to help you get the basics right. It is not legal advice, and wage orders are updated from time to time. Before you rely on any figure here, confirm the current position against the Kenya Gazette notice or with the Ministry of Labour. If something in your situation is unusual — a dispute, a dismissal, an injury at work — take proper advice.
Part 1 — What you must pay
The Regulation of Wages (General) (Amendment) Order 2026 set new minimum monthly wages for domestic and general workers with effect from 1 May 2026. The minimum depends on where the work is done, not on where you or the worker come from.
Four things people get wrong
- It applies to staff you already employ, not only to new hires. If your house help has been with you three years, her pay must still meet the current floor.
- It covers more roles than people expect — house helps, nannies, gardeners, watchmen, messengers and sweepers are all domestic and general workers for this purpose.
- Accommodation and food do not buy you a discount. Housing a live-in worker does not let you pay below the floor. The minimum is a floor, not a target to offset against.
- Part-time work is pro-rated, not exempt. Two days a week is lawfully paid at two days' worth of the monthly minimum. What is never lawful is full-time hours at a part-time rate.
The penalty
Paying below the prescribed minimum is an offence. It carries a fine of up to KES 50,000, imprisonment for up to three months, or both.
Part 2 — What sits on top of the wage
The figures above are the cash wage. Three other things are separate from it, and each is a common source of trouble.
Housing allowance
A worker who lives out — who goes home at the end of the day — is additionally entitled to a housing allowance of 15% of the basic wage. A worker you accommodate does not receive it, because you are already providing the housing.
NSSF
A household employing even one domestic worker is an employer for National Social Security Fund purposes. You register once, then remit monthly. Both employer and employee contribute, and the amounts are tiered against earnings.
NSSF contribution tiers have been rising in phases under the NSSF Act 2013, so the correct amount for the current month should be confirmed on the NSSF portal rather than taken from any summary, including this one.
SHIF
The Social Health Insurance Fund replaced NHIF. Contributions are a percentage of gross pay, deducted monthly and remitted with your other statutory returns.
As with NSSF, confirm the current rate and any minimum contribution on the official SHA portal before you set up the deduction.
Where to confirm all of this. The wage order is published in the Kenya Gazette. NSSF rates are on
nssf.or.ke and SHIF on the Social Health Authority portal. If you would rather not deal with any of it, ask us — we set this up as part of a placement and we run it as a standing service for households with several staff.
Part 3 — The contract
A written contract is the single thing that prevents most domestic employment disputes. It does not need to be long. It needs to be signed by both of you, dated, and each of you keeps a copy.
Fill in the blanks below, or copy the clauses into your own document.
Contract of employment — domestic worker
Employer:
Address where the work is done:
Employee: National ID no.:
Position: Start date:
- Duties. The employee is engaged as . Main duties are:
- Hours and rest. Normal working hours are to , days per week. The employee is entitled to at least one full rest day each week, taken on .
- Wage. The employer shall pay KES per month, paid on or before the day of each month, by (cash / M-Pesa / bank). This meets or exceeds the statutory minimum for the area in which the work is done.
- Housing. The employee (does / does not) live at the workplace. Where the employee lives out, a housing allowance of 15% of the basic wage is paid in addition to the wage above.
- Statutory deductions. The employer shall register the employee and remit NSSF and SHIF contributions monthly as required by law. Deductions from the employee's wage shall be limited to those the law permits.
- Annual leave. The employee is entitled to paid annual leave in accordance with the Employment Act, to be taken at a time agreed between both parties.
- Sick leave. The employee is entitled to paid sick leave in accordance with the Employment Act, on production of a certificate from a registered medical practitioner where required.
- Public holidays. The employee is entitled to gazetted public holidays, or a day off in lieu where the day is worked by agreement.
- Notice. Either party may end this contract by giving notice in writing, or payment in lieu of notice, in accordance with the Employment Act.
- Confidentiality. The employee shall not disclose the private affairs of the household to any third party, during or after employment.
- Property and conduct. The employee shall take reasonable care of property in their charge. Any loss or damage shall be discussed and recorded in writing before any deduction is considered.
- Grievances. Any complaint by either party shall first be raised directly and in good faith, and a record kept of what was agreed.
Signed (employer): Date:
Signed (employee): Date:
Witness: Date:
Part 4 — The checklist
Work down this list once. Most households find two or three items they have never done.
- The wage meets the minimum for the area where the work is done, and you have checked it this year.
- If the worker lives out, the 15% housing allowance is paid on top of the wage.
- There is a written contract, signed and dated by both parties, and each of you holds a copy.
- You have sighted the original national ID and kept a copy on file.
- You hold a Certificate of Good Conduct, or you know when it was applied for.
- You called the last two employers yourself, rather than relying on a written letter.
- You are registered as an employer with NSSF and remitting monthly.
- SHIF is set up and being deducted and remitted at the current rate.
- The worker has one full rest day a week, and you know which day it is.
- Pay is recorded — a simple book or M-Pesa record showing what was paid and when.
If you found gaps
None of this is difficult, but it is fiddly and it is easy to let slide. We set all of it up as part of every placement we make, and we run it as a standing arrangement for households and businesses with several staff on the books.
Frimak Agency · Greenway Lane, off Westlands Road, next to Imperial Court, Westlands, Nairobi · 0716 947747 · [email protected] · frimakagency.co.ke
You are welcome to print this pack, copy it, and pass it to anyone who employs staff at home. No attribution needed.