Paying Your Househelp Below the Ksh18K Minimum Wage? Here Are the Legal Risks You Face 

Imagine you're driving with your househelp to upcountry for the holidays. Along the way, you're involved in an accident and they suffer serious injuries.

You assume your car insurance will handle everything. Then you discover you're personally responsible for compensation because, legally, your househelp is your employee. 

Or perhaps they slip while cleaning your windows, suffer a serious injury, and decide to take you to court.

Many Kenyan families see paying househelps as a private arrangement based on what both parties agree. But under Kenyan law, employing a domestic worker comes with the same legal obligations as employing staff in a business.

Following the gazettement of the 2026 minimum wages, failing to meet those obligations could expose households to costly legal claims.

Under the latest Regulation of Wages (General) Order published in June 2026, the government set the minimum monthly wage for domestic workers at Ksh18,047 in major urban centres such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret.

Those working in municipalities and towns should earn at least Ksh16,650, while those in other parts of the country should receive a minimum of Ksh9,628.

The courts have already dealt with disputes between employers and househelps who earned below the legal minimum wage and set a precedent that has largely sided with the employees. 

Money254.co.ke spoke to Peter Mabuka, an advocate of the High Court, on some of the legal issues households face for failing to pay their househelp the minimum wage.

Also Read: Hiring a Househelp? Money Rules You Need to Know

Can your househelp sue you for paying below the minimum wage even if both parties agreed on the pay?

“The outright answer is yes. The fact that parties in an employment relationship have agreed to be paying below the set government threshold doesn’t make the arrangement valid. A house-help, just like any other employee, is entitled to the Rights and Fundamental Freedoms enshrined under Article 41 of the Constitution of Kenya, which give life to the basic minimum conditions of employment. Such a contract to pay them below the prescribed minimum wage is thus illegal and unlawful,” he stated.

Under the Employment Act, domestic workers are considered employees and are entitled to the protections provided under labour laws, regardless of whether they were hired through a formal interview or a verbal agreement.

In 2025, the Labour Court in Kisumu made a landmark ruling in the appeal case of Ramzan v Misango. Misango, who had served from March 2018 to March 2024, sued her employer after her employment ended, claiming she had been paid only Ksh4,000 per month, far below the statutory minimum wage applicable to domestic workers in Kisumu.

The employer argued that she was merely a casual labourer and therefore not entitled to employment benefits. However, the court found that she had worked continuously for six years, received monthly wages and served under the direct supervision of the household. 

In the end, the court upheld compensation for underpayment, unpaid leave and other employment benefits, awarding the househelp Ksh569,717.48.

Written vs verbal agreement: which one is legitimate?

Many households never prepare employment contracts for domestic workers. Instead, agreements are made verbally, with the understanding that the employee will cook, clean, do laundry or care for children in exchange for a monthly salary.

However, the absence of a written contract does not mean there is no employment relationship.

Mabuka notes that the law requires any employment relationship lasting more than three months to be reduced into writing. He also says it is becoming increasingly important and good practice to notify such an employee of their data privacy rights before and during their employment.

"Under the Employment Act of Kenya at Section 9(1), it is a requirement that any employment relationship exceeding three (3) months must be reduced in writing by the employer and consented to by the employee," the advocate noted.

"Such a written contract of service should state the particulars of employment, such as the Personal Identification Information (PII) details of the employee, for example, name, age, address, job description, duration/hours and place of work; salary payable and the intervals; terms and conditions for the employee’s entitlement to leave days; public holidays; and termination of employment."

This was demonstrated in Priscilla Kaiga v Mr and Mrs Das. In that case, the employers denied ever employing the claimant as their domestic worker. The court, however, examined witness evidence and other circumstances surrounding the employment and concluded that an employer-employee relationship existed.

Once the court established that relationship, it proceeded to determine claims for underpayment, notice pay, unpaid house allowance and service pay, eventually awarding the claimant more than Ksh182,000.

Also Read: Story of Kenyan Who Made Ksh1 Million as Househelp & Lost It All to Relatives

Besides salary, what else are househelps entitled to?

Mabuka explains that domestic workers are entitled to the same statutory leave benefits as other employees under the Employment Act, provided they qualify as employees under the law.

These include 21 days of annual leave after every 12 consecutive months of service, three months of paid maternity leave, two weeks of paid paternity leave, one month of pre-adoptive leave, and seven days of sick leave with full pay plus another seven days with half pay each year, subject to medical proof.

Employers are also required to deduct and remit the necessary statutory payments, such as NSSF and SHIF, as required by law.

If a househelp lives in your house, should they receive less than the minimum wage?

Mabuka states that the law does not allow employers to pay domestic workers below the minimum wage simply because they provide other benefits such as accommodation and food.

“In fact, an employer is required to provide reasonable accommodation for each of their employees or pay such a house allowance to enable the employee to obtain accommodation.

"Where the parties agree under the contract that the employer shall provide food, then it shall be done so, and that does not permit the employer to pay the househelp below the prescribed minimum wage,” he stated.

Also Read: Court Rulings on Salary Underpayment Disputes Between Employer and Employee

If your househelp gets injured while working, who is responsible?

Employers also have a legal duty to provide a safe working environment. In Abdul Virji v Mwanaharusi M. Rongola (2011), the High Court upheld compensation after Rongola (the househelp) fractured her foot while climbing a wet ladder to inspect a water tank at her employer's home. 

The court ruled that employers must take reasonable steps to protect domestic workers from foreseeable workplace risks.

Can you dismiss your househelp whenever you want?

In many families, the services of househelps are terminated at any time, sometimes even without notice. However, the Employment Act requires employers to follow fair procedures before terminating employment.

In the Ramzan v Misango case, the employer claimed the domestic worker had deserted duty. However, the court found there was no evidence of a disciplinary process or any attempt to contact her before dismissal. It consequently held that the termination was unfair, reinforcing that domestic workers are entitled to the same procedural protections as other employees under the Employment Act.