Employers risk facing legal action should they continue deducting higher National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions, despite a court ruling suspending the same.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Charles Kanjama cautioned that employers who continue making deductions under the contested NSSF Act, 2013, without proper legal backing could face liability claims from employees.

In a statement on Saturday, June 13, Kanjama reiterated that court orders must be obeyed unless the parties involved in the matter obtain legal orders overturning them.

Kanjama was responding to a notice issued by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) , which advised employers to continue deducting NSSF contributions at the rates prescribed under the NSSF Act, 2013.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to Kanjama, employers cannot decide on their own to continue applying NSSF contribution rates contained in a law that has been declared unconstitutional.

He argued that employers should either revert to the previous Ksh200 monthly rate or obtain employees' consent before making any deductions above the statutory threshold.

“It is not a matter of unilateral employer choice or discretion. Employers must revert to the old rates unless they secure their employees' consent or they set aside the prevailing court order,” Kanjama stated.

He further noted that any deduction from an employee's salary must be legally authorised, insisting that mandatory deductions are only allowed by statute or court order.

“Only permitted coercive deductions are statutory deductions or those arising from a court order. Other deductions must be voluntary, founded on the employee's written consent or on a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA),” he added.

Kanjama warned that employers who make unlawful deductions could be held liable under both employment law and contractual obligations, exposing them to demands for refunds by affected workers.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke