Kenyan Lawmakers Move to Let Workers ‘Disconnect’ from Employers

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA NEWSWIRE SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

Kenya’s senate is considering a new bill that would make it illegal for employers to call, text, email, or give assignments to their workers outside of work hours, on weekends, or on public holidays.

The Employment (Amendment) Bill, sponsored by Nandi senator Samson Cherarkey, wants to give Kenyan workers “the right to disconnect in the digital age” and protect them from employers who make them do extra work without paying them.

The bill asserts that employees’ constant digital connectivity is cutting into their free time, which affects their work-life balance.

When making their out-of-work policies, firms with more than ten workers will have to talk to their workers or trade unions. Employers who don’t follow the law will have to pay a $4,000 fine.

Quartz Africa Weekly says the bill can’t be sent to the senate until Feb. 13, when lawmakers get back to work after a break. Kenya’s law-making process says it will take 90 days for the senate to read and vote on it. If the bill passes, it will be sent to the national assembly for another 90 days before the president signs it.