Related documents
- Is amended by 24th Annual Supplement

LAWS OF KENYA
WORK INJURY BENEFITS ACT
CAP. 236
- Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. CIX—No. 81 on 9 November 2007
- Assented to on 22 October 2007
- Commenced on 2 June 2008
- [Revised by 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023) on 31 December 2022]
Part I – PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Work Injury Benefits Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"accident" means an accident arising out of and in the course and scope of an employee’s employment and resulting in personal injury;"Board" means the National Labour Board;"Cabinet Secretary" means the Cabinet Secretary for the time being responsible for labour matters;"capitalised value" means the total anticipated allowance over a certain period;"compensation" means compensation as provided for under this Act and includes medical aid and any benefit of any nature to which an employee or his dependants may be entitled to under this Act;"Council" means the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health;"dependant" means a person defined as a dependant in section 6;"Director" means the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services;"earnings" means the remuneration of an employee at the time of the accident calculated in the manner set out in section 37;"employer" means a person defined as an employer in section 4 and includes a principal;"injury" means a personal injury and includes the contracting of a scheduled disease;"medical advisory panel" means a panel appointed from medical and occupational health and safety practitioners to advise the Director for purposes of this Act;"medical aid" means any or all of the benefits specified in sections 45 and 47;"medical practitioner" means a person appointed by the Director for purposes of section 48 entitled to practise in Kenya under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (Cap. 253);"periodical payments" means a periodical payment of compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Act;"permanent disablement" means permanent injury or disfigurement;"personal representative" means the executor or other person lawfully appointed to take charge of the estate of a deceased employee and if there is no such person so appointed, any person specially appointed under this Act to make an application on behalf of the deceased employee’s dependants for compensation, and in other respects, to act as his personal representative for the purposes of this Act;"scheduled disease" means any disease specified in the Second Schedule;"temporary disablement" means, a condition of temporary nature caused by an accident which results in the loss of or diminution of wage-earning capacity in the work at which such employee was employed at the time of accident.3. Application
This Act shall apply to all employees, including employees employed by the Government, other than the armed forces, in the same way and to the same extent as if the Government were a private employer.4. Meaning of employer
5. Meaning of "employee"
6. Meaning of dependant
Part II – OBLIGATIONS OF EMPLOYERS
7. Employer to be insured
8. Registration of employer
9. Employer to keep records
Part III – RIGHT TO COMPENSATION
10. Right to compensation
11. Accident outside Kenya
12. Accidents during training for or performance of emergency Services
If an employee is injured in an occupational accident or contracts an occupational disease while the employee, with the consent of the employer, is engaged in any organized first aid, ambulance or rescue work, fire-fighting or other emergency service, the accident or disease is for the purposes of this Act, deemed to have arisen out of and in the course of the employee’s employment.13. Special circumstances in which Director may refuse award
The Director may refuse to grant compensation under this Act to an employee if—14. Special circumstances in which the Director may order compensation
If in a claim for compensation under this Act it appears that the contract of service apprenticeship or learnership of the employee concerned is invalid, the Director may approve compensation for the claim as if the contract was valid at the time of the accident.15. Employee requiring constant assistance
16. Substitution of compensation for other legal remedies
No action shall lie by an employee or any dependant of an employee for the recovery of damages in respect of any occupational accident or disease resulting in the disablement or death of such employee against such employee’s employer, and no liability for compensation on the part of such employer shall arise save under the provisions of this Act in respect of such disablement or death.17. Claims against third parties
18. Threats and compulsion
Any person who threatens an employee or in any manner compels or influences an employee to do something resulting in or directed at the deprivation of that employee’s right to benefits in terms in accordance with this Act commits an offence.19. Compensation not to be alienated
20. Compensation not to form part of deceased employee’s estate
Compensation paid under this Act for the death of an employee shall not form part of the employee’s estate.Part IV – REPORTING OF ACCIDENTS
21. Notice of accident by employee to employer
Written or verbal notice of any accident provided for in section 22 which occurs during employment shall be given by or on behalf of the employee concerned to the employer and a copy of the written notice or a notice of the verbal notice shall be sent to the Director within twenty-four hours of its occurrence in the case of a fatal accident.22. Notice of injury or accident by employer to Director
23. Inquiry by Director
24. Particulars in support of claim
25. Employee to submit to medical examination
26. Claim for compensation
27. Lapse of right to benefits
Part V – COMPENSATION
28. Compensation for temporary total or partial disablement
29. Expiry of compensation for temporary total or partial disablement
30. Compensation for permanent disablement
31. Amendment of First Schedule
The Cabinet Secretary may, on the recommendation of the Director and in consultation with the Council, amend the First Schedule by notice in the Gazette:Provided that at least sixty days before any such amendment a notice shall be published in the Gazette stating—32. Compensation for permanent disablement of employee in training
If as a result of an accident an employee sustains permanent disablement and at the time of the accident was an apprentice or in the process of being trained in any trade, occupation or profession, the earnings of the employee shall be calculated on the basis of the earnings to which an employee would normally have been entitled if at the time of the accident the employee had been performing the same work as a person in the same occupation, trade or profession with five years experience.33. Compensation to employee previously in receipt of compensation
34. Amount of compensation in case of death
35. Amendment of Third Schedule
The Cabinet Secretary may, on the recommendation of the Director, and after consultation with the Board, amend the Third Schedule by notice in the Gazette in respect of the nature, extent, minimum and maximum amount of benefits:Provided that at least sixty days before any such amendment a notice shall be published in the Gazette—36. Payment of compensation
37. Manner of calculating earnings
Part VI – OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
38. Compensation in respect of scheduled and unscheduled diseases
39. Presumption regarding cause of occupational disease
If an employee who has contracted an occupational disease specified in the Second Schedule was employed in any work mentioned in that Schedule in respect of that disease, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the disease arose out of and in the course of his employment.40. Calculation of compensation
41. Notice of occupational disease by employee and employer
42. Date of occupational disease
43. Amendment of Second Schedule
The Cabinet Secretary may, on the recommendation of the Council and in consultation with the Director, amend the Second Schedule by notice in the Gazette, in respect of the description of diseases and work:Provided that at least sixty days before any such amendment a notice shall be published in the Gazette—44. Appointment of medical advisory panels
Part VII – MEDICAL AID
45. First Aid
46. Conveyance of injured worker
47. Medical expenses
48. Submission of medical report
49. Fees for medical aid to be prescribed
The fees and charges for medical aid to an employee shall be in accordance with the scale prescribed by the Cabinet Secretary, from time to time, after consultation with the Council and such bodies or associations representing medical practitioners entitled to practice within Kenya as the Cabinet Secretary may think fit, and no claim for an amount in excess of a fee in accordance with that scale shall lie against any employer in respect of any such medical aid.50. Contributions by employees towards cost of medical aid prohibited
Part VIII – APPEALS
51. Objections and appeals against decisions of the Director
52. Director’s reply
Part IX – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
53. Director
54. False statements
Any person who in connection with a claim for compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or in any return, notice, report or statement to be given, made or furnished under this Act, makes or causes to be made any statement which is false in any material respect, knowing it to be false, commits an offence.55. General penalty
A person convicted of an offence under this Act for which no other penalty is provided shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.56. Regulations
57. [Spent]
58. Savings
History of this document
31 December 2022 this version
Revised by
24th Annual Supplement
02 June 2008
Commenced
09 November 2007
22 October 2007
Assented to
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