Pay guards Sh30,000 minimum wage or face cancellation, security firms warned
By Nyaboga KiageSecurity companies that fail to submit a duly signed and commissioned legal undertaking by June 17 that they will pay a minimum wage of Sh30,000 to their guards will have their certificates cancelled.
This is according to the head of the Private Security Regulatory Authority, Fazul Mahamed, who said that after the cancellation, the companies will be struck off the register of licensed private security providers.
“Any private company that fails to submit a duly signed and commissioned legal undertaking to pay the government-set minimum wage of Sh30,000 for private security officers (security guards) by the close of business on June 17, 2024, will face immediate cancellation of its registration certificate,” Mr Mahamad said in a statement.
However, he said a number of security companies had already submitted legally binding undertakings to pay the government’s minimum wage of Sh30,000 for guards.
There has been debate over the Sh30,000 wage bill, with some security companies dismissing it as a controversial directive.
The Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA) and the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (PROSAK) have claimed that Mr Mahamed’s orders are illegal.
Instead, they said such calls and directives should be gazetted by Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore before being enforced.
“Accordingly, only the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection is empowered by law to publish wage orders setting minimum terms and conditions of employment and only through the Kenya Gazette,” she told the media in the past.
In his directives, Mr Mahamed ordered that security guards working in Nairobi be paid Sh30,000 and those working outside the capital be paid Sh27,000.
The matter is still in court as a decision is awaited following a petition against the Sh30,000 wage bill.
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