The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the first case of COVID-19 patient in Kenya in 2019 and declared it as a global pandemic. Several directives were issued, amongst them was a call to the employers to allow their employees to work from home with the exception of employees working in critical and essential services. Some employers adhered to the directives as a legislative measure under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This however, brought great concerns amongst the employers and employees prompting the articulation of various legal concerns resulting from the implications from the directive on employment contracts, as set out in the various labour laws. The legal concerns that have influenced the employment laws include:

i) Paid sick leaves
The Regulation of Wages (General) Order entitles an employee to seek leave on a 30-day full pay and a further sick leave of 15 days on a half pay per year. The sick leave provisions apply in cases where the employee has to be away from work because he/she has contracted the virus and is seeking treatment or if the employee has to self-quarantine because he /she has been exposed to the virus or has recently returned from a trip abroad. Even in cases where the employee is not actually sick but their absence from work is due to directives from government, then the paid sick leave still applies.

ii) Paid and Unpaid leave

Paid leave.
The Employment Act provides that an employee may take his/her annual leave at the convenience of the employer. This requires consultation between the parties and may be a practical step to take if the nature of the work cannot be done remotely from home.

Unpaid leave.
The employment Act entitles an employee to an annual leave of 21 days with full pay. It does not provide for unpaid leave and therefore if an employer was considering this, it would have to seek the employee's consent. The consent should be in writing to prevent future claims for unpaid wages or salary.

iii) Redundancy
The Employment Act refers to redundancy as the loss of employment by involuntary means through no fault of an employee and involves termination of positions by an employer because the requirement to carry out work of a particular type has ceased or is likely to cease. This has to take place in cases where the government gives certain directives where Corona virus escalates for a longer period. The employer must be able to show that there was no other role the employee could perform. Redundancy must be conducted in a manner that follows the procedural and substantive legal steps outlines in the Employment Act.

iv) Reduction of salaries
An employer may agree with the employee to reduce their wages to allow the business cope with reduced cash flow. In case the business stabilises, the employer may offer to return the salary to its original position. It advisable that this agreement be captured in writing.