Key Employer Responsibilities and Disability Rights under Kenya’s Persons with Disabilities Act 2025

The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025(Act No. 4 of 2025), is a landmark and comprehensive legislation  in Kenya, designed to uphold and promote the rights, dignity, and inclusion of persons living with disabilities (PWDs). It repeals the earlier Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003, offering a stronger, clearer, and wider legal framework to ensure equality, accessibility, and participation of PWDs in all facets of life, including employment. The Act came into force on 27 May 2025 and it aligns with the Constitution of Kenya (Article 54) and international standards such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

What is Disability under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025?

The Act in Section 2 adopts a broad and inclusive definition:

“Disability” includes any physical, sensory, mental, psychological or other impairment, condition or illness that has, or is perceived to have, a substantial or long-term effect on an individual’s ability to carry out ordinary day-to-day activities.”

“Persons with disabilities” includes persons with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, developmental or sensory impairments, including visual, hearing or albinism, which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”

Accordingly, disability is now understood in the social context, highlighting barriers such as long-term physical, mental, intellectual, developmental or sensory impairments (including visual, hearing, or albinism) that hinder full and effective participation on an equal basis with others.

Guiding Principles and Values for Government and Everyone

All state organs, public officers, government institutions, private sector organizations, civil society, and individuals are mandated to observe the following principles when promoting and protecting disability rights:

• Respect for the inherent dignity, individual autonomy, including the freedom to make one’s own choices.
• Non-discrimination and full and effective participation and inclusion in society.
• Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity.
• Equality of opportunity and accessibility.
• Gender equality and attention to vulnerable groups within the PWD community, such as women, children, youth, and older persons.
• Accountability and transparency in the delivery and implementation of policies and programs affecting PWDs.

These principles must inform every policy, program, and decision affecting persons with disabilities.

Employer Obligations Under the Act

The Act introduces several new and detailed obligations on employers, both in public and private sectors, to actively promote the employment rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities, with enforcement powers granted to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. These obligations include:

• Employment Quota: Employers with 20 or more employees must ensure that at least 5% of their workforce are persons with disabilities. This mandatory quota aims to address historic exclusion and systemic employment barriers for PWDs.
• Reasonable Accommodation: Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to enable PWDs to perform their work effectively on an equal basis. Examples include workplace modifications, accessible facilities, flexible work arrangements, assistive technologies,and  adapted recruitment and training methods. Any refusal without just cause is discrimination.
• Non-Discrimination: The Act explicitly prohibits any form of discrimination in recruitment, employment terms, promotion, training, or dismissal on the basis of disability. It further protects employees from victimization or harassment related to their disability.
• Prohibition of Discriminatory Testing: Employers must not conduct any test or examination to establish whether an applicant is a person with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the person’s disability.
• Prohibition of Dismissal: No employee shall be dismissed or demoted solely on grounds of acquiring or having a disability or any related consequences.
• Incentives for Employers: Private employers who engage PWDs as employees, apprentices or learners are entitled to apply for a deduction from their taxable income equivalent to 25% of the total amount paid as salary and wages to such employees. Also, an employer who makes necessary reasonable accommodations for PWDs is entitled to apply for an additional deduction of about 50% from their next taxable income to offset reasonable expenses incurred. This encourages businesses to actively hire and retain PWDs.
• Annual Reporting and Compliance: Employers must submit annual reports on PWD employment to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, facilitating oversight and enforcement of the law.
• Promotion, training & progression equity: Employers must apply specific measures (legislative, policies and practices, including outreach or support programmes, allocation or reallocation of resources; preferential treatment; targeted recruitment, hiring and promotion; numerical goals connected with time frames; and quota systems designed, adopted and implemented to fulfil equal enjoyment of rights of persons with disabilities;) to ensure fair promotions, training, and career development for employees with disabilities.
• Workplace Awareness: Employers are encouraged to conduct training and sensitization programs to foster an inclusive and respectful work environment.
• Retirement: The retirement age for persons with disabilities is five years above the Government’s mandatory retirement age.  Currently, the mandatory retirement age for public servants is 60 years, as stipulated under the Public Service Commission Act, Cap 185 (the PSC Act). Employers should plan accordingly for the retirement of the PWDs.

Note: Any form of employment discrimination is a criminal offence, which on conviction is liable to a fine of up to KSh 2,000,000 and/or 2 years imprisonment.

How to Enforce Disability Rights

Persons with disabilities, or any person acting on their behalf, can enforce their rights under the Act through the following avenues:

1. Adjustment Orders by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD)
   • If a workplace, service, or public facility is inaccessible, the Council can investigate, conduct inquiries/sectoral investigations, and issue an Adjustment Order requiring the employer or provider to make specified changes.
   • The recipient must comply within the stipulated timeframe.
   • One can appeal an Adjustment Order to the High Court within 30 days.
   • Failure to comply is a criminal offence which upon conviction is liable to a fine of up to KSh 5,000,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment
2. Application to the High Court
   • Any person alleging a contravention of the Act may apply to the High Court for redress. The Court may issue orders/writs/directions to enforce rights (e.g., injunctions, mandatory orders, declarations).
3. Employment & Labour Relations Court
   • Employment-related violations (e.g., failure to reasonably accommodate, discriminatory hiring, non-compliance with the 5% quota/annual reporting) are ordinarily pursued in the ELRC, which has exclusive jurisdiction over employment disputes and broad remedial powers (injunctions, reinstatement, compensation, damages). Recent appellate guidance affirms ELRC’s competence where the dispute arises from employment.
4. Complaints to the Council
   • Individuals may lodge complaints with the NCPWD regarding:
     • Discrimination
     • Denial of reasonable accommodation
     • Inaccessible services or facilities
   • The Council may investigate and take administrative or legal action.
5. Criminal Prosecution (Serious Offences)
   • Report to the police/ NCPWD inspectorate for investigation and referral to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). The Act empowers the Council to appoint inspectors to investigate and recommend prosecution or other remedies for infringements

How Njaga & Co Advocates LLP Can Assist Employers

Njaga & Co Advocates LLP’s Employment and Labour Law is equipped with deep and holistic expertise in Kenyan employment and human rights law, not only under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025, but the on the comprehensive employment needs of employers and employees. Our employment and labor services include:

• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating employment contracts and workplace policies to ensure compliance with Kenyan labor laws, including disability inclusion.
• Advising on recruitment, terms of employment, retention, performance management, and fair termination practices that align with both employment law and disability rights.
• Supporting dispute resolution and litigation around employment rights, unfair dismissals, discrimination, including disability discrimination, and workplace conflicts.
• Assisting employers with compliance audits, HR policies, and training programs to create inclusive, fair, and legally compliant workplaces.
• Guiding employers on immigration and work permit issues for expatriates and foreign employees, facilitating lawful employment across borders.
• Advising on occupational health and safety, harassment prevention, and creating a healthy workplace environment conducive to all employees including persons with disabilities.
• Helping employers navigate labor union relations, collective bargaining, and employee representation matters.

Whether you’re a corporate employer, government agency, or SME, we are your strategic legal partner in navigating the Kenyan employment and labour landscape.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information and does not substitute legal advice on specific circumstances of any individual or organization. While the information is accurate as of the date published, we cannot guarantee it remains accurate at the time you read it or that it will stay current. Before acting on any of this information, please seek professional legal advice tailored to your situation.