The High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the
implementation of Sh30,000 minimum monthly wages for security guards.
PSRA former Director General Fazul Mahammed had, in a
legal notice in November 2023, directed all private security firms to pay their
security guards a minimum wage of Sh30,000 before statutory deductions.
However, a petition on
behalf of the Private Security Industry Association (PSIA), challenged the decision
arguing that the action by PSRA and Fazul was not proceeded with any public
participation.
The petition asked the court to declare the respondents
acted arbitrarily and illegally in contravention of Articles 10 and 118 of the
Constitution of Kenya.
In the petition, it was argued that it was the
responsibility of the Ministry of Labour to come up with minimum wage
regulation, enforcement and gazettement and not the responsibility of the PSRA.
However, Justice Mathews Nderi Nduma, of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, dismissed the petition saying it was not only abandoned by the petitioner but also lacked merit.
"Accordingly, the petition lacked merit and was an abuse of the court process demonstrated by the apparent lack of interest in the matter by the Petitioner./
“In the final analysis, the petition was abandoned by the
Petitioner and is struck out by the court and in any event the same lacked
merit and stood to be dismissed which the court proceeds to do,” Justice Nderi
ruled.
PSRA directed employers to comply with the directives
warning that any employer who remunerates guards below the mandated basic
minimum shall be liable to a fine of Sh2 million, according to the law.
PSRA had in November 2024 set the basic minimum pay.
According to the PSRA, the minimum pay should be Sh18,994
with a house allowance of Sh2,849.11 and overtime allowance of Sh8,156.81
totalling Sh30,000.
The statutory deductions will be the National Social Security
Fund (NSSF) of Sh1080, Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) of Sh825, Pay As You
Earn Sh1229.75, and affordable house levy of Sh450.
The Ministry of Labour had however in 2022 set the minimum
wage for private night guards at Sh16,959 in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and
Nakuru.
Under the Labour Ministry guidelines, a security guard
working in former municipalities was supposed to earn a minimum of Sh15,722
while their counterparts in other areas were expected to earn Sh9,672 per
month.
