Leave Pay Calculator Kenya: Employment Act, 21 Days

Leave pay calculator (Employment Act, section 28)

Under the Employment Act you earn at least 21 working days of paid leave after every 12 months of service. If your job ends part-way through a leave year, you are owed at least 1.75 days for each completed month, as long as you have worked two or more months. Leave pay is those days times your daily rate. This calculator counts the days, prices them at monthly gross divided by 30, and estimates the PAYE.

What the law says

Section 28(1) of the Employment Act gives every employee:

at least 21 working days of leave with full pay after every 12 consecutive months with the same employer; and
where employment ends after two or more consecutive months of a leave year, at least one and three-quarter days of paid leave for each completed month in that year.

The rest of section 28 lets leave be split with your consent, requires at least two uninterrupted weeks in the year where you are entitled to it, and says leave not taken in the year must be taken within 18 months of the end of the leave year. Your contract can give more than 21 days but not fewer.

Worked example: 8 months into the leave year

Gross pay KES 60,000 a month. Eight completed months this leave year. Five days already taken.
Days earned: 8 times 1.75 is 14 days. Less 5 taken leaves 9 days owed.
Daily rate at monthly gross divided by 30: KES 2,000. Leave pay: KES 18,000.
Paid with a normal month's salary, the KES 18,000 carries about KES 4,847 of PAYE, and NSSF, SHIF and Levy take a little more. You would keep about KES 11,308.

Which daily rate is right?

The Employment Act does not fix a divisor for turning monthly pay into a daily rate. Three divisors are common: 30 (calendar days), 26 (working days in a six-day week) or 22 (working days in a five-day week). Because leave is counted in working days, a working-day divisor gives a higher figure. The headline result uses 30, the same rate as our severance pay calculator, so the two never disagree. The /26 and /22 figures are shown alongside so you can compare with your contract or CBA, which governs if it is more generous.

Assumptions

Only completed months count, and nothing accrues under the pro rata rule until two months are complete.
If your contract gives more than 21 days, we accrue at your contract figure divided by 12 for each month. The extra days are contractual, so check how your contract treats them on exit.
Tax is estimated as if the leave pay is added to one normal month's gross. KRA lists leave pay as taxable cash pay.

Sources

Kenya Law, Employment Act (Cap. 226), section 28 (latest version on Kenya Law, dated 26 Apr 2024). Read 25 Oct 2026.
Kenya Law, Regulation of Wages (General) Order, paragraph 9 (the same 21-day and 1.75-day rule for workers it covers; consolidated version of 26 Jun 2026). Read 25 Oct 2026.
KRA, PAYE (leave pay is taxable cash pay). Read 25 Oct 2026.

Frequently asked

How many leave days am I entitled to in Kenya?

At least 21 working days with full pay after every 12 consecutive months with the same employer, under section 28 of the Employment Act. Your contract or CBA can give more.

How are leave days calculated if I leave mid-year?

If you have completed two or more months of the leave year, you are owed at least 1.75 days for each completed month. Eight months gives 14 days, less any you have already taken.

How is leave pay calculated?

Leave days owed times your daily rate. The law does not set the divisor; this calculator uses monthly gross divided by 30 and also shows the result at 26 and 22 working days.

Is leave pay taxed?

Yes. KRA lists leave pay as taxable cash pay, so PAYE applies, normally by adding it to the month it is paid in.