Casual payroll in Kenya
Casual and daily-rate payroll in Kenya
PayrollMaster runs casual and daily-rate payroll in Kenya. Attendance is captured by manual entry, QR, biometric or geofence; overtime is rated by weekday, rest-day and holiday type; minimum-wage floors apply by region and job category; and sub-monthly earnings get sub-monthly PAYE, filed with Kenya Revenue Authority.
How it works
How do you pay a Kenyan casual worker correctly?
Four steps, from the gate to a payslip that survives an inspection.
- 1
Capture the attendance
Hours come in by manual entry, QR code, biometric or geofence — whatever suits the gate, the field or the site. Hours are computed automatically rather than transcribed from a notebook.
- 2
Hold the wage floor
Minimum-wage floors apply by region and job category, not as one national number. Anything below the applicable floor is flagged before you pay it, not after an inspection.
- 3
Rate the hours
Overtime is computed by type — weekday, rest-day and public-holiday hours each pay at their own rate, across the whole crew, without anyone doing it by hand.
- 4
Tax it correctly
Sub-monthly earnings get sub-monthly PAYE, with prorated relief and below-threshold exemption. Fixed-fee task workers get withholding tax — resident or non-resident — with the certificate issued automatically.
- Two models — timesheet-based casuals and fixed-fee task/gig workers
- Attendance via manual entry, QR code, biometric or geofence, with automatic hours
- Overtime computed by type — weekday, rest-day and holiday rates
- Minimum-wage enforcement with region and job-category floors, and below-minimum flagging
- Sub-monthly PAYE handling with prorated relief and below-threshold exemption
- Task workers: staged payments, resident and non-resident withholding tax with automatic certificates
Still a Kenyan payslip
What comes off a Kenyan casual’s pay?
A casual worker is not exempt from the statutory stack. 5 items apply, collected by 4 different bodies — on the same run as your salaried staff.
Kenyan employers pay monthly, usually on or before the last working day. Since December 2024, SHIF and the housing levy are allowable deductions that reduce taxable pay before PAYE is calculated — which changes net pay even when no headline rate moves.
| Deduction | Authority | Paid by | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAYE Pay As You Earn | Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) | Employee | Graduated 10%–35% across five monthly bands, with personal relief of KES 2,400 per month Source · in force from 2023-07-01 |
| NSSF National Social Security Fund | National Social Security Fund (NSSF) | Employer + employee | 6% employee + 6% employer, on pensionable pay up to KES 108,000/month (Year 4 rates) Source · in force from 2026-02-01 |
| SHIF Social Health Insurance Fund | Social Health Authority (SHA) | Employee | 2.75% of gross pay, minimum KES 300/month, no upper cap Source · in force from 2024-10-01 |
| Housing Levy Affordable Housing Levy | Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) | Employer + employee | 1.5% employee + 1.5% employer of gross pay, no cap Source · in force from 2024-03-19 Sources disagree. In force under the Affordable Housing Act 2024, which the High Court upheld. A consolidated constitutional challenge was heard by a five-judge Court of Appeal bench on 19 January 2026 and, as at 14 July 2026, no judgment has been published. The levy stands until one is. This is the only genuinely unresolved rate on the site. |
| NITA levy National Industrial Training Levy | National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) | Employer | KES 50 per employee per month, employer-paid Source Sources disagree. Remittance frequency is unclear: the levy is quoted per employee per month but reported by some sources as payable annually. |
Rates last reviewed 2026-07-14 against Kenya Revenue Authority and other official sources. Where authorities genuinely conflict, both readings are shown rather than resolved. Statutory rates change with every finance act — confirm current figures with a local practitioner before relying on them. PayrollMaster applies the current rates centrally, so your payroll run does not depend on this table being fresh.
By sector
Who runs casual teams in Kenya?
Farms & agribusiness
For tea estates, flower farms, horticulture, coffee and plantations.
Read moreConstruction
For contractors, developers and site managers running daily-rate crews.
Read moreHotels, restaurants & events
For hotels, lodges, restaurants, banqueting and event staffing teams.
Read moreFactories & production
For manufacturers running shift crews alongside production casuals.
Read moreGig & task workers
For delivery platforms, marketplaces and anyone paying per task.
Read more
Questions
Casual payroll in Kenya: common questions
Can I run payroll for casual workers in Kenya?
Yes. Kenyan casual and daily-rate workers run on the same payroll as salaried staff. Attendance is captured by manual entry, QR, biometric or geofence, overtime is rated by type, and every payslip carries Kenya's statutory deductions, filed with Kenya Revenue Authority.
Is Kenya's minimum wage enforced?
Minimum-wage floors are applied by region and job category — not as one national figure — and any worker below the applicable floor is flagged before the run is paid. Confirm the current Kenyan wage order with the labour authority; we check every payslip against the floors you configure.
How is PAYE handled for a Kenyan worker paid for a few days?
Sub-monthly earnings get sub-monthly PAYE, with prorated relief and below-threshold exemption applied. Somebody who worked nine days is not taxed as though they earned a full monthly salary, and the return still reconciles with Kenya Revenue Authority.
Can casual and permanent Kenyan staff run together?
Yes. Casual, seasonal and permanent staff run on one payroll and one statutory return. You do not keep a second system for the people paid by the day, and there is one filing with Kenya Revenue Authority at month end.
Run one Kenyan crew free
Start free, add a single crew, and run one real month — the attendance, the overtime, the wage floor and the PAYE filed with Kenya Revenue Authority. Compare it against your muster roll before you switch anything.