Cabinet Secretary Labour & Social Protection, Simon Chelugui, on Monday, March 23, disclosed the various plans the government was working on, in a bid to cushion Kenyans from the project tough economic times following the Coronavirus outbreak.
Flanked by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jacqueline Mugo, the duo announced that one of the proposals currently under review touched on the various statutory payments such as PAYE and NSSF.
"We are looking into implementing practical solutions that will help our country and reduce the pain," Chelugui stated.
On her part, Jacqueline revealed that the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on industry was quite significant, and that unusual measures had to be taken up.
"We are looking at statutory contributions and considering whether those could be either scaled down, reduced or withheld. We outlined areas such as PAYE where employees are taxed and contributions to pension such as NSSF.
"We've also looked at VAT, which currently stands at 16% and proposed that it be reduced to create extra money for businesses, to be used in the running of everyday operations," she stated.
CS Chelugui also announced that Kenya's economic growth rate had been revised downwards to 3.6% from 6%.
He went on to ask employers to liaise with employees to ensure nobody is disadvantaged during this hard time.
The CS also announced that plans were underway to suspend Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA), following the Covid-19 outbreak and its impact on the various industries.
A collective agreement is defined in the Labour Relations Act as a written agreement concerning any term and conditions of employment made between a trade union and an employer, group of employers or organization of employers.
Watch Chelugui's presser below:
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