By Joe Kiarie

For the past five years, Morgan Gitonga has been doing booming business through his domestic workers recruitment agency in Nairobi’s Westlands.

In a month he has, on average, been putting 80 house helps on placement in homes across the country.

Gitonga says business would peak in late December and early January, when, he notes, demand for domestic workers rockets as employers hire fresh workers or make replacements.

Around this time, the minimum number of workers put on placement through his agency, Supa Maids Kenya Ltd, has been 100.

But that is no longer the case. His business has tumbled since June following Labour Ministry’s decision to domesticate the International Labour Organisation convention on domestic workers, who include cleaners, cooks, gardeners, nannies and housekeepers.

Under the new guidelines, the lowest paid domestic worker in major towns should take home a minimum monthly salary of $84 (Sh7,522) with an off duty time of 48 hours and benefits such as overtime compensation, among others.

Employers are equally required to remit National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) deductions for the workers, failure to which they risk incurring a monthly penalty amounting to five times the contribution.

Improved work conditions

But while the regulations are expected to greatly improve the working conditions of domestic workers, they have been met with open resistance by a majority of employers who are just not ready to embrace them.

"It is now obvious that not many employers are willing to pay the amount of money stipulated under the law.

While over 90 per cent of my clients are willing to pay the Sh320 required in monthly NHIF contributions, very few want to pay Sh7, 500 in salary," Gitonga notes.

With his agency registered and answerable to the Ministry of Labour, the businessman has taken responsibility and directed that every contract signed between his clients and domestic workers incorporates the new law since he would also be held legally responsible if the guidelines on the welfare of house helps are breached. But the consequences have been telling.

"Over the last two months over 50 per cent of these seeking to hire house helps have dropped interest on hearing about the new regulations," he says.

"Apparently, most people are still unaware of the new guidelines.

Majority of my clients insist on paying house helps Sh4,000 in salary and topping it with the NHIF contribution and they just walk out on me when I insist on a minimum salary of Sh7,500," Gitonga states.

Business is low

So bad is business now that he says he puts only 20 to 30 house helps on placement monthly, and in a change of tack, he is now targeting upmarket households in areas such as Muthaiga, with business in his traditional markets such as Langata and Buru Buru having plummeted.

According to Gitonga, whose firm also trains prospective nannies on first aid, cooking and cleaning, the drop in his business illustrates that the law will almost be impossible to implement if it is not reviewed or an alternative means is formulated to enforce it.

Ms Connie Adhiambo is among employers who have vowed to defy the new law.

With a net income of Sh15,000, she says there is no way she can pay more than this for a worker whose accommodation and meals she also caters for.

And it is even more complicated when it comes to making monthly NHIF contributions for her house help.

"Personally, I don’t have this form of medical cover so I don’t understand why someone should force me to get it for my house girl.

But even if I were to pay it for her, it would be suicidal as the authorities might exploit the opportunity to force me to hike her salary and backdate the increment to July," Adhiambo charges.

Ironically, her house help, Doreen Kiende, is totally unaware of any guidelines to improve the working conditions of domestic workers and is satisfied with the Sh2, 500 she receives monthly.

Mr Moses Buka, who also runs a house helps recruitment agency in Nairobi, admits that Kenya domestic workers are underpaid and grossly mistreated compared to their colleagues in other countries.

But he concurs that the new regulations will be hard to implement in Kenya, particularly due to a high cost of living and stagnating salaries.

"As we talk, while upmarket employers pay house helps an average of Sh15,000 a month, there are those in the middle and lower class households who are still genuinely struggling to pay them Sh2,000.

Difficult to impelement

And with the middle and lower class employers being the majority, this shows you how difficult it will be to implement the law," he observes.

And even for households that can afford the salaries, Buka says there is need for thorough sensitisation among domestic workers to foster mutual understanding between them and the employers and avert ego clashes.

"As much as the regulations want to professionalise domestic work, there is also the likelihood of increased conflict with employers due to the perceived rise in status," he notes.

Mr Stephen Mutoro, the Consumer Federation of Kenya chief executive officer, agrees that despite it being well intentioned, the new piece of legislation will barely achieve the envisaged goals.

"The main problem is that the people this law is supposed to protect are not even aware of it.

It is also tricky because none of them is openly complaining about poor pay or working conditions, with their academic background also extremely working against them," he asserts.

Law ineffective

Mutoro notes that while the law can be effectively used by formal employers, it will not be as effective as envisaged when it comes to employment in private households, a category that incorporates majority of employers.

"First, no one knows the number of house helps in Kenya. Again, house helps can be easily passed as relatives in most households.

This will pose a very tricky situation for the concerned law enforcers, not forgetting that it is very difficult to move from home to home to ensure adherence to the law" he says.

Nonetheless, Mutoro says domestic workers deserve better pay and should take full advantage of Section 41 of the Constitution, which gives them the right to good labour practises and to join and run trade unions of their choice.

Mutoro laments the fact that even with proper laws the country still does not have adequate personnel to enforce them.

To have the rights of these workers safeguarded and the law properly implemented, the CEO calls for the establishment of a country-level special enforcement team under the Ministry of Labour.