NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 28 – Employers have been directed to notify the National Employment Authority of termination of every employee and of each layoff within two weeks of the dismissal.
In a gazette notice, the Authority’s Director-General Edith Okoki has asked employers to submit the returns on termination to the government agency through the National Employment Authority Integrated Management System.
Akoki says the move will enable the government to come up with strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the labor and employment sector.
“Hard-copy or email returns will not be accepted and employers are supposed to file returns on the National Employment Authority Integrated Management System at www.nealms.go.ke ,” she said.
The Kenyan workforce has been bearing the brunt of the virus with data from the Federation of Kenyan employers revealing that most firms are operating at 50 percent capacity or lower.
A study conducted in early April by market research firm, Consumer Insights, revealed that the coronavirus pandemic had greatly affected the country’s workforce with pay cuts and job losses being the norm.
According to the pollster’s Managing Director Ndirangu Maina, 86 percent of Kenyans had been adversely affected by the virus whose impact has plunged world economies into turmoil.
A spot-check by Capital FM news revealed that businesses in Nairobi are slowly reopening after a month of inactivity over fears of coronavirus, and in compliance with social distancing measures declared by the government.
On Monday, the government allowed restaurants to re-open, but under strict measures aimed at maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus that has so far killed 14 people.
“As we play our role as the Ministry of Health, we are also trying to see what measures we can put to keep our economy going. Some of the things that we will expect is that restaurants will now operate between 5 am and 4 pm and not later than that,” Kagwe told a Parliamentary Committee.
Most hotels and restaurants were closed from mid-March, soon after the country recorded its first COVID-19 case.
