AN ACT of Parliament to amend the Employment Act
and for connected purposes
ENACTED by the Parliament of Kenya, as follows1. This Act may be cited as the Employment
(Amendment) Act, 2021.
2. The Employment Act (in this Act referred to as
the “principal Act”) is amended by inserting the following
new definition immediately after the definition of the term
“employer” —
“exit certificate” means a written authority given by a
registered adoption society to a prospective adoptive
parent to take the child from the custody of the
adoptive society;
3. The principal Act is amended by inserting the
following new section immediately after section 29—
Short title.
Amendment to
section 2 of No. 11
of 2007.
Insertion of new
section 29A in No.
11 of 2007.
Pre-adoptive leave. 29A. (1) Where pursuant to section 157
of the Children Act, a child is to be placed in
the continuous care and control of an
applicant who is an employee under this
Act, the employee shall be entitled to one
month’s pre-adoptive leave with full pay
from the date of the placement of the child.
(2) An employee eligible for leave
under subsection (1) shall notify the
employer in writing of the intention of the
adoption society to place the child in the
custody of the employee at least fourteen
days before the placement of the child.
(3) A notice under subsection (2) shall
be accompanied by documentation
evidencing the intention of the adoption
society to place the child in the custody of
the employee, including a custody
Employment (Amendment) 2021
agreement between the employee and the
adoption society and an exit certificate.
(4) Subsections (2), (3) and (7) of
section 29 shall, with necessary
modifications, apply to an employee eligible
to leave under this section.
