Kenya EOR & PEO

Start hiring in Kenya

Simple, compliant hiring with Horizons EOR

Hire in Kenya

Horizons enables any business, anywhere in the world, to easily hire a workforce in Kenya, quickly, compliantly, and cost-effectively.

The Horizons Kenya EOR solution enables your company to hire a complete team in Kenya, without the need for a local entity or subsidiary.

When you engage a Kenya EOR, you save your business time and money, and guarantee compliance.

Note, a Kenya Employer of Record is also known as a Kenya Professional Employer Organization (PEO).

Facts & Stats

stay compliant with Kenya labor laws

Employment Laws

Employment contracts in Kenya

Kenya is an East African country with a market-based economy and a young, educated English-speaking population. While the bulk of the Kenyan economy is focused on agriculture and agriculture-related businesses, Kenya also has a developed and growing tech startup ecosystem which is consistently producing tech-savvy workers.

The Kenyan labor market has grown in recent years, with data from 2021 suggesting 3.32% growth of the labor market even as the employment rate remains relatively stagnant. This job demand may represent an opportunity for international companies wanting to hire in Kenya.

For companies wanting to hire in East Africa, Kenya is a top choice as the hub of East African business. Opening a subsidiary in Kenya can be costly, however; outsourcing your international HR efforts to a trusted Kenya EOR is often the quickest and most affordable path to hiring in Kenya.

What is a Kenya EOR?

A Kenya Professional Employer Organization, or Kenya EOR, is a speicalist HR company that hires employees on behalf of client companies. It takes over hiring, payroll, and employment compliance so that client companies can focus on their core business.

A Kenya EOR could be a domestic EOR, only supporting based in Kenya and only hiring and processing payroll in that country. Or, they could be regional Africa EOR, supporting client companies throughout the region. Or, they could be a Global EOR, hiring employees all over the world, including in Kenya.

Horizons is a global EOR that supports companies to hire employees in Kenya, Africa, and throughout the world.

Fixed-term

Indefinite

What are the benefits of a Kenya EOR?

A Kenya EOR provides client companies with access to talented employees, without having to worry about setting up payroll, benefits or HR services themselves.

This allows ambitious companies to focus on their core objectives, without worrying about administrative tasks such as payroll processing, HR management and employee tax compliance obligations.

Finally, since many Kenyan workers prefer working for foreign companies because of their higher salaries and better benefits packages than those offered by local companies, hiring through a Kenya EOR allows the company to benefit from a lower payroll burden than operating directly in Kenya would require.

The additional benefits of using a Kenya EOR are:

Cost savings – up to 85% compared to opening a local subsidiary
Speed of hiring – hire your employee in 24 hours, instead of the months it may require to open a subsidiary
Guaranteed labor law compliance – as the Kenya EOR would be the legal employer, we take care of all HR formalities while you retain direct supervision of the employee
Access to global benefits – take advantage of EOR group plans to offer unbeatable benefits for your team
Data security – advanced EOR platforms allow you to manage leave, expenses, and keep your data safe at all times.

How does a Kenya EOR help businesses hire employees?

EORs in Kenya will generally follow the following steps:

Step 1: Engagement
When you contact a Kenya EOR they will usually reach out to find out more about your situation, and provide you with a detailed, itemized, estimate of the costs you should expect to incur during the course of your hiring in Kenya.
Step 2: Employment facilitation
The Kenya EOR will draft the labor contract for employees to sign, sometimes digitally.
Step 3: Administrative onboarding
All key declarations and registrations are made in Kenya, including tax registration. Depending on the employee’s nationality and benefits offered (e.g. insurances), this might include work permits and visas.
Step 4: Monthly payroll processing
The Kenya EOR calculates all regulatory payroll items and ensure all taxes and contributions are paid monthly. You are invoiced for the costs of the employee plus the EOR fee each month.
Step 5: Ongoing HR & administrative support
When there are questions from either you or your employee regarding HR matters, the Kenya EOR is there as the HR and employment law expert for Kenya.
Step 6: Further expansion
If later you are ready to hire in another country, a global EOR will be able to support you. There are 180+ countries supported by Horizons, and a dedicated account manager can start the process in any country. Or, in many cases, you can raise the hire request directly on the Horizons platform (desktop) or Horizons App (mobile).
Step 7: Offboarding
When the employment arrangement for your Kenya employee comes to an end, the Kenya EOR is there to guide and support all parties toward a smooth and compliant transition.

Leave management and national holidays in Kenya

A Kenya EOR can administer benefits for your entire Kenya team. This includes leave management, pensions, healthcare and various social contributions.

Employees in Kenya are entitled to 21 working days of paid annual leave. In addition, they are entitled to the following public holidays:

Holiday Schedule in Kenya [2024]

Kenya has a range of national public holidays that are celebrated annually. In 2024 these holidays are:

Date	Holiday name
1 Jan Monday	New Year’s Day
29 Mar Friday	Good Friday
1 Apr Monday	Easter Monday
10 Apr Wednesday	Eid al-Fitr
1 May Wednesday	Labour Day/May Day
1 Jun Saturday	Madaraka Day
17 Jun Monday	Eid al-Adha (Tentative Date)
10 Oct Thursday	Huduma Day
20-21 Oct Sunday-Monday	Mashujaa Day
1 Nov Friday	Diwali
12 Dec Thursday	Jamhuri Day
25 Dec Wednesday	Christmas Day
26 Dec Thursday	Boxing Day

Note also that there are some regional or local holidays that are only celebrated in certain parts of Kenya.

Paternity and Maternity leave in Kenya

Mothers in Kenya are entitled to 3 months’ paid maternity leave. Fathers in Kenya are entitled to 2 weeks’ paid paternity leave.

Employer pension contributions in Kenya

Kenya has two bodies that help citizens save for retirement: the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), for employees, and MOBIKEZ (Online pension platform), for informal workers.

The NSSF is the body that regulates the occupational pension scheme in Kenya. Employers have an obligation to pay into the NSSF at a rate of 6.0% of employee salary per month (to a maximum 200 KSH per month).

Income tax withholding in Kenya

Kenya has a progressive income tax system with the following rates:

10.00% of employee salary: up to 24,000 KES (per month), 288,000 KES (per year)
25.00% of employee salary: next 8,333 KES (per month), 100,000 KES (per year)
30.00% of employee salary: income over 32,333 KES (per month), 388,000 KES (per year)

Payroll tax in Kenya

Employer taxes cost 6.0% of an employee’s monthly salary + 50 KSH for the National Industrial Training Levy (NITA). The NITA is a state corporation created to promote the highest possible standards for industrial quality, efficiency, and safety. Trainings attended by employees which are accredited by NITA are eligible for a refund from NITA upon application by the employer. There is an additional contribution of 1.50% of an employee’s monthly contribution stuck in the courts. If ruled favourable, this contribution would support the National Housing Development Fund. Currently this contribution is not collected by employers in Kenya.

Kenya's healthcare system

Healthcare and health insurance in Kenya

Chile has a number of mandatory social security contributions for both employers and employees. The employee contributions are generally withheld by the employer. Employees usually need to pay the following:

10% of salary to pension
Between 2.84% and 3.4% to life insurance
7% to health insurance
0.6% to unemployment insurance

Employers generally need to contribute between 0.9% and 4.4% of salaries to workplace accident insurance and unemployment insurance, as well as 2.4% to an unemployment fund.

Income tax in Chie is between 0% and 35.5%, depending on income level.

Corporate tax in Chile is generally 25%.

Hire through a Kenya EOR

Kenya Employer of Record (Kenya EOR) solutions take the stress out of hiring employees in Kenya. Through an EOR solution, any company, anywhere in the world can hire employees in Kenya, quickly and cost-effectively.

Kenya Employer Of Record Peo