SRC gazettes regulations to strengthen remuneration governance in public service

SRC Chairperson Sammy Chepkwony during vetting before the National Assembly Labour Committee at Parliament Buildings, November 22, 2024. 
[File, Standard]

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has gazetted regulations that seek to strengthen the governance of remuneration and benefits across the public service.

The regulations are also expected to help reduce the public wage bill, which stood at 41 per cent in the 2025/2026 financial year.

Even though there is a reduction from 55 per cent recorded in 2020, the current percentage is more than what is recommended in the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, which caps the public wage bill at 35 per cent.

Some of the benefits that have inflated the wage bill include allowances for public officers constituting 40 per cent of the total wage bill, with some institutions paying as high as 100 per cent.

The Remuneration and Benefits of State and Other Public Officers Regulations, 2026, bring into force a landmark legal framework.

The Regulations operationalise the SRC Act, 2011, by setting out clear procedures for determining and reviewing the remuneration and benefits for all state officers.

The gazettement represents a significant milestone in institutionalising transparent, equitable and evidence-based remuneration management.

The SRC regulations give public bodies a robust legal and procedural framework for administering remuneration and benefits, while reinforcing the constitutional principles of fiscal sustainability, fairness, transparency, attraction and retention of requisite skills, and recognition of productivity and performance.

Key reforms introduced by SRC regulations include a structured four‑year remuneration review cycle aligned with the national planning and budgeting process; standardised procedures for job evaluation to ensure equal remuneration to persons for work of equal value and to promote fairness, consistency and transparency in remuneration decisions.

Others are a structured framework for collective bargaining negotiations, including SRC’s advisory and concurrence roles on items payable from public funds and strengthened oversight through clear provisions on implementation, review of advice, dispute resolution, monitoring and evaluation to enhance accountability and compliance across public institutions.

The regulations place productivity and performance at the heart of remuneration management, underscoring SRC's commitment to a high-performing, efficient and citizen-centred public service.

The regulations come a few days after SRC resolved to align performance with an individual's productivity.

SRC said mainstreaming productivity in the public service will increase productivity growth from the current 1.38 per cent to at least 20 per cent by June 2027.

Second and thirdly, it resolved to link compensation and career progression to productivity and performance and transform performance contracting into performance and productivity contracting.

Before, only performance contracting, which was introduced on October 1, 2004, in 16 largely commercial state corporations, had been operating in a silo.

The regulations come after a consultative process that involved invaluable contributions of stakeholders from the national and county governments, Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices, public institutions, employer organisations, trade unions and other partners.

The input, SRC said, was instrumental in ensuring the regulations reflect the diverse needs of the public service, while upholding the Constitution and existing legal frameworks.

To support implementation, SRC will roll out a comprehensive stakeholder-sensitisation programme and work closely with public bodies to ensure a smooth transition to the new regulatory framework.

The gazettement, it said, marks a defining milestone in its efforts to strengthen remuneration governance in Kenya.

By providing a clear, transparent and predictable legal framework, SRC regulations will promote consistency in remuneration decisions, support the prudent use of public resources, advance equity and fairness, and contribute to a motivated, sustainable public service that delivers quality services to all Kenyans.