Kenya raised the minimum wage by 12% with effect from 1 May 2026. These are the gazetted figures that apply in Nairobi, and the one thing almost every employer forgets.
Checked against the gazette on · ABITECH Kazi, Nairobi
KSh 18,047.40 per month, and that figure is before housing. A house help, cleaner, gardener, children’s ayah or day watchman all sit in the same grade.
| Job | Minimum per month | Grade in the Order |
|---|---|---|
| House help · cleaner · gardener · children’s ayah · day watchman · messenger | KSh 18,047.40 | General labourer |
| Cook · waiter | KSh 19,491.33 | Miner, stone cutter, turnboy, waiter, cook, logger, line cutter |
| Night watchman | KSh 20,133.72 | Night watchman |
Those monthly figures are exclusive of housing allowance. Under section 31 of the Employment Act, 2007 an employer must in addition provide reasonable housing accommodation, or pay a house allowance. So KSh 18,047.40 is the wage floor, not your total minimum monthly cost for a live-out house help.
A live-in arrangement is different, because accommodation is being provided. Where the line falls in your particular arrangement is a question for an advocate, not for a staffing company’s website — but budgeting as though 18,047.40 is the whole bill is the mistake we see most often.
Source: Legal Notice No. 108 of 2026, Kenya Law. The same rates were first gazetted as Legal Notice No. 95 of 29 May 2026 and re-issued as LN 108; the Nairobi figures are identical in both. The increase follows President William Ruto’s Labour Day announcement of a 12% rise in general wages on 1 May 2026.
KSh 30,000 gross per month inside the Nairobi Metropolitan Area — set by the Private Security Regulatory Authority, and considerably higher than the general wage order.
Basic pay KSh 18,994, house allowance KSh 2,849.11, and overtime allowance KSh 8,156.81. Outside the Nairobi Metropolitan Area the figure is KSh 27,183.
This comes from PSRA Legal Notice No. PSRA/005/2023, issued in November 2023. A challenge to it by the Private Security Industry Association was struck out by the Employment and Labour Relations Court on 6 February 2025 in Kipkorir v Private Security Regulatory Authority & 4 others, Petition E011 of 2024. It is being actively enforced: on 6 August 2026 the President directed PSRA and the Ministries of Interior and Labour to act against firms paying guards below it.
Do not use the KSh 18,047.40 general-labourer figure for a security guard. A day watchman at a private home and a licensed security officer are not the same thing in Kenyan law, and the PSRA figure is the one that gets enforced.
Our fee is 50% of the agreed first month’s gross salary, paid once. At the 2026 minimums, that is roughly KSh 9,024 for a house help and KSh 15,000 for a guard.
| Role | If you pay the legal minimum | Our placement fee |
|---|---|---|
| House help · cleaner | KSh 18,047.40 | KSh 9,024 |
| Cook · waiter | KSh 19,491.33 | KSh 9,746 |
| Night watchman | KSh 20,133.72 | KSh 12,000 (minimum) |
| Security guard (PSRA) | KSh 30,000 | KSh 15,000 |
Some Nairobi bureaus charge a smaller placement fee and then a recurring monthly agency fee on top of the salary for as long as the worker stays. Ours is a single payment before the start date, with a 60-day replacement, and nothing after that. Which is cheaper depends entirely on how long the placement lasts — worth working out with a calculator before you sign anything, with us or with anyone else.
It is a plain reading of two published instruments — the Regulation of Wages (General) (Amendment) Order, 2026 and the PSRA wage notice — with the sources linked so you can check every figure yourself. That is deliberate: a staffing company quoting salary figures at you without saying where they come from is asking you to take its word for something you can read for free.
It is not legal advice. Housing allowance, overtime, leave, NSSF, SHIF/SHA and the housing levy all sit on top of the basic wage, and how they apply depends on the arrangement. For anything that matters, ask a Kenyan advocate. We are a staffing company, not your lawyer.
If you spot a figure here that has been superseded, tell us on WhatsApp and we will correct the page and re-date it.
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