Paternity leave ‘has increased business costs’

The cost of doing business in Kenya has increased tremendously since the introduction of paternity leave, the Federation of Kenya Employers has said.

The federation’s executive director, Ms Jacqueline Mugo, also said the increased maternity leave from two to three months was a big concern to the employers.

“The labour laws governing paternity and maternity leave, in our view, have increased the cost of doing business by 15 per cent,” she said at Cathy Hotel in Nakuru yesterday, during the 28th annual general meeting of the Rift Valley branch.

However, she said the employers were not entirely objecting to improvement of these benefits but their concern was their impact on the total cost of employment in the country.

She said when Parliament passed the laws, they were not fully consulted.

“Essentially, we already have longer maternity, and paternity leave of two weeks is higher than most countries, including developed ones,” she added.

Ms Mugo said the federation wrote a memorandum and sent it to the National Assembly’s labour committee but their input was disregarded.

“The spirit of the Constitution is that there should be adequate and effective consultations before laws are passed,” she said.

The laws were revised in 2007. “All these costs are supposed to be borne by the employers because Kenya does not have a robust official protection system to pass on these costs to a scheme funded by the government,” she said.

The federation’s national chairman, Mr Linus Gitahi, in a speech read on his behalf by Ms Mugo, said employers’ organisations represent a key asset in any society and his federation would continue to create ideal conditions for enterprises to succeed.

During the AGM, Mr Apollo Kiarie, the Kenya Tea Growers Association CEO was re-elected as the branch chairman and will be assisted by Mr John Warutumo of Cosmopolitan Sacco as vice chairman. Six other people were elected to serve in the branch committee.