Align Wage Policies With ILO Standards

By: Dennis Wendo

Worth Noting:

• Rationally, the country’s perennial minimum wage policy has failed; it has not kept pace with the rising cost of living, inflation and the emerging socio economic challenges. There is a need to adopt a research based living or general wage policy that is fairly commensurate with the actual cost of living among the various workforce cadres.
• Kenya is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) whose Constitution at the preamble calls for the provision of an adequate living wage. The Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944 calls on the ILO to promote policies in regard to wages and earnings, hours and other conditions of work calculated to ensure a just share of the fruits of progress and a minimum living wage to all employed.

The traction of finance bill 2024 raises the significance of public participation fora in decision making and the need for a closer eye in the law making process.

The ability to grasp, probe and vary between a policy, bill, an Act of parliament and successive phases associated with formulating a bill to an Act, is key.  It promotes inclusivity and collective responsibility on matters of leadership and governance.

The bill has engendered spontaneous reprisal from various quarters with many denouncing high cost of living, over taxation, unemployment and corruption.

Though the Government indicates the country is on a faithful economic recovery, the majority feel it is headed in the wrong direction, observed by the ongoing nationwide protests.  In reality the shopping baskets for Kenyans have immensely shrunk, lest for some. Households are facing impracticable tough choices in affording mandatory needs such as food and water, rent, clothes, transport, school fees and medicine.

Notably, there has been a positive long-term global trend in average wages, however millions of workers in both formal and informal economies live in poverty and continue to earn very low wages compared to the cost of living.

Rationally, the country’s perennial minimum wage policy has failed; it has not kept pace with the rising cost of living, inflation and the emerging socio economic challenges.   There is a need to adopt a research based living or general wage policy that is fairly commensurate with the actual cost of living among the various workforce cadres.

Kenya is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) whose Constitution at the preamble calls for the provision of an adequate living wage. The Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944 calls on the ILO to promote policies in regard to wages and earnings, hours and other conditions of work calculated to ensure a just share of the fruits of progress and a minimum living wage to all employed.

The recent decision by the ILO’s Governing Body to reach an agreement on living wage is commendable and needs to be adopted and enshrined in policies by member countries.

ILO denotes a living wage as that which is necessary to enable workers and their families affords a decent standard of living. It is calculated in accordance with the ILO’s principles for the work performed during the normal hours of work.

In the endorsed ILO agreement, the estimation of living wages should tread on the heels of  a number of principles that include the usage of evidence-based methodologies and robust data, consultations with workers’ and employers’ organizations, transparency, public availability, consideration of regional, local contexts, socio-economic and cultural realities.

Furthermore, the operationalization of the concept  should be evidence-based and take into account the ILO key principles of wage-setting. These include strengthening social dialogue and collective bargaining and empowering wage-setting institutions, promoting incremental progression from minimum wages to living wages, ensuring national or local ownership and recognizing the role of the state.

Adopting the living wage policy will be a major boost to workers. The Government and related stakeholders such as the labor movement, federation of Kenya employers and associations should focus their synergies towards making Kenyans’ lives better by putting in place intervention measures to cushion the population against social, economic turbulence.

Dennis Wendo

Integrated Development Network

Email: dambehi@gmail.com