Free Kenyan Employment Contract Template: Compliant with the Employment Act 2007

Most employment disputes in Kenya are won or lost on paperwork that was or wasn't drafted correctly on day one. A well-written contract is the single cheapest piece of legal protection you can give your small business. A poorly written one (or worse, no written contract at all) is what leaves employers standing in front of the Employment and Labour Relations Court trying to prove what was agreed three years ago from memory.

This guide walks through what a compliant Kenyan employment contract must contain, section by section, under the Employment Act 2007. It also flags what you should add even though the law doesn't require it, and where SMB contracts most often go wrong. At the end, you can generate a clean version yourself in a few minutes. For the wider Kenyan HR picture (payroll, statutory bodies, data protection), see our Kenya HR guide.

Why a written contract matters

Section 9 of the Employment Act requires employment of more than three months to be in writing. Below three months, verbal agreements are legal. But the practical reality is that three months passes quickly, and switching from verbal to written after the fact creates legal ambiguity neither side wants.

If an employee takes you to the ELRC, the first thing the judge asks for is the contract. If you don't have one, or the one you have is missing the mandatory fields, the procedural burden flips onto you. You'll need to prove what the terms actually were, and the courts lean toward the employee's version when there's no paper trail.

The fix is simple: every hire gets a written, Section 10-compliant contract, signed before the start date. Not after. Not the same day. Before.

The mandatory sections (Section 10)

The Employment Act spells out exactly what the contract has to contain. Every one of these clauses is a legal requirement, not a style choice.

1. Names and addresses. Full legal name of the employer, full legal name and home address of the employee. If the employer is a company, use the registered name, not a trading name.

2. Job title and description. Keep the description specific. Vague job descriptions ("general duties as assigned") create problems in termination disputes because the employee can argue they were not obliged to perform tasks outside their scope.

3. Start date and form of contract. Clearly state:

• The exact start date
• Whether the contract is permanent, fixed-term, probationary, or piece-rate
• If fixed-term, the exact end date

4. Place of work. City, and a specific address if fixed. If the role is remote or hybrid, state that. If travel is expected, say so.

5. Hours of work. Standard working hours per week. For most roles covered by the Regulation of Wages Orders, this caps at 52 hours per week. Be explicit about whether overtime is expected and how it's compensated.

6. Wage or salary and pay cycle. Gross monthly pay, pay frequency (monthly, weekly, daily), and the exact date on which salary is paid. Specify currency (usually KES).

7. Annual leave entitlement. The Act's floor is 21 working days after 12 months of service. You can offer more. State whether unused leave is paid out or carried forward, and the cap on carryover.

8. Sick leave and incapacity provisions. The statutory minimum is 30 days per year (15 full pay + 15 half pay) kicking in after 2 consecutive months of service. Reference this explicitly in the contract.

9. Pension and provident fund arrangements. NSSF is mandatory and applies by default. Any additional occupational pension or provident fund should be named here.

10. Notice period for termination. Either the statutory minimum under Section 35 (28 days for monthly-paid employees) or a longer period agreed by both parties. Applies equally to employer and employee.

A free contract generator produces a Section 10-compliant template in minutes, filling in every one of these fields. Whether you use a tool or draft manually, make sure each of the ten sections above is covered.

Probationary clauses

If you're using a probationary period, spell it out:

• Duration (maximum six months under Section 42, extendable by another six with the employee's written consent)
• Review checkpoints (a mid-probation review document is your strongest defence if you later need to dismiss)
• Termination notice during probation (seven days' notice or seven days' pay in lieu, both directions)

The common mistake is starting someone on probation without writing it into the contract. If probation isn't in the contract, it doesn't exist for legal purposes, and the full notice period applies from day one.

Recommended clauses the Act doesn't require

These aren't legal requirements, but they close common gaps in SMB contracts:

Confidentiality. A one-paragraph clause requiring the employee to keep customer data, financial information, and proprietary processes confidential during and after employment. Useful for any role with access to sensitive information.

Intellectual property. If the role produces work product (code, designs, content, research), state that IP created during the course of employment belongs to the employer. Without this clause, ownership defaults can be unclear.

Non-compete and non-solicitation. Enforceable in Kenya but narrowly. Courts will only uphold clauses that are reasonable in scope, duration, and geography. A one-year non-solicit of your customers is typically reasonable; a five-year industry-wide non-compete is almost always unenforceable.

Grievance and disciplinary procedure. Referencing your internal policy (even briefly) makes the fair-hearing process in Section 41 easier to follow later. If you don't have an internal procedure, the Act's own process applies by default.

Dispute resolution. Specifying that disputes will be referred to the Ministry of Labour before any court action can save both parties time and legal fees.

Language pitfalls

A few specific phrasings cause real trouble in disputes:

"At the employer's discretion" is not a blanket permission. You can reserve discretion on specific items (bonus structures, promotion decisions), but you can't use "discretion" to bypass statutory minimums on leave, notice, or severance.

"Permanent" doesn't mean "forever." A permanent contract is one without a fixed end date. The Employment Act's grounds for termination still apply, including redundancy. Don't let the word imply job security the law doesn't guarantee.

Fixed-term contracts need a real fixed term. Repeatedly renewing a six-month fixed-term contract for three years is a common trap. Courts regularly reclassify serial renewals as indefinite employment. If the role is ongoing, the contract should be permanent.

Avoid boilerplate from other jurisdictions. A UK or US contract template won't cover Section 10 fields, won't reference Kenyan statutory leave, and won't align with Kenyan notice rules. Retrofitting foreign contracts to Kenyan law is almost never faster than starting clean.

What to do before the employee signs

• Walk through the contract in person with the employee, in a language they understand (Section 41 implies this applies throughout the employment, not just at termination)
• Give them a copy to take away and read before signing
• Sign two copies; keep one, give one to the employee
• File the signed copy in the employee's people profile with their ID copy, KRA PIN, NSSF number, and SHIF registration
• Note the start date on your onboarding calendar so leave accrual, probation review, and first payroll all hit the right dates

Common contract mistakes in Kenyan SMBs

• No written contract at all, because "we'll sort it out later"
• A one-page contract that skips Section 10 fields
• A foreign template filled in with Kenyan details but missing Kenyan legal structure
• Probation written as "subject to performance" with no stated duration
• Fixed-term contract renewed repeatedly instead of converted to permanent
• Notice period shorter than the statutory minimum
• No clear description of duties, which backfires in performance-based terminations
• No reference to the Employment Act 2007 leave and sick-leave minimums

Key points

• Written contracts are legally required for any employment over three months
• Section 10 specifies the ten mandatory clauses; missing any of them weakens your position in a dispute
• Sign before the start date, with both parties keeping a copy
• Probation must be written into the contract; an unwritten probationary period legally doesn't exist
• Confidentiality, IP, and dispute-resolution clauses are recommended even though not required
• Avoid foreign templates; they don't align with Kenyan statutory requirements
• A free contract generator covers Section 10 in a few minutes and saves you the manual drafting risk

A clean contract is the lowest-cost, highest-return piece of HR work you'll do for each hire. Thirty minutes of care on day one replaces hours of legal cleanup later.