Bill seeking to compel Public & Private Sector Employees to take Paid Interns set in Motion

Kimilili Member of Parliament has set in motion in the National Assembly plans to compel Private and Public Organizations in Kenya to offer Paid internships to graduates who have attained a minimum of diploma in their studies.

The principal object of’ the bill is to amend the Employment Act No.1 of 2007 to provide for the absorption of diploma, undergraduate, graduate and Post graduate interns by public and public sector employees.

Bill seeks to provide for a minimum wage payable to interns. It also seeks to make provision for a requirement for all employers to file annual internship compliance returns with the Director of Employntent.

According to the proposed law submitted to the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, it should be mandatory for all public and private organizations that have over 50 employees to absorb paid interns and maintain them throughout the year.

The Bill seeks to amend section 76 of the Employment Act (2007), by adding a new sub-section that will require employers to pay a minimum wage to the interns they take in.

It requires a Two-thirds majority to sail through the House.

The Proposed Amendment reads in part;

THE EMPLOYMENT BILL, 2018

2. The enployment Act, 2007 (in this Act referred to as the “principal Act”) is amended by inserting the following new section immediately
after section 76—

76A. (1) An employer who employs more than  fifty employees shall—

(a) offer internship to applicants who have attained diploma, undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate qualifications; and
(b) ensure that the number of applicants offered internship under subsection (1) is equivalent to five percent of the employer’s total workforce

(2) The employer shall

(a) maintain the number of interns under subsection (1) at all times;
(b) recruit a suitable replacement within twenty one days of receipt of a notice of completion of the internship programme from an intern;