Labour Day was marked today globally to celebrate workers. In Kenya, the day has become a ceremony to raise the minimum wage. President Uhuru Kenyatta broke the tradition last year by not offering a pay increase but has raised this year by 12%.
Whether or not the minimum pay goes up isn’t the issue here. The million-shilling question is if employers can really afford a regular annual increment even when the fundamentals are not favourable. Labour is a major production cost and an increase without considering how organisations shoulder that expense profitably, especially in labour intensive industries, can be counter-productive. First, it will discourage companies from employing more, which in turn lowers production and slows economic growth. Eventually, poverty increases.
We cannot afford to make pay increment ceremonial at a time when the country is trudging towards a middle income status. Knowing the work ethic in Kenya, most of the pay increases over the years have been undeserved. Many Kenyans are pathetic workers who need constant supervision and probing to do what they are paid to do. Most employers are being ripped off by these truant workers.
Private sector has been forced to introduce all manner of instruments to get people working 100 percent. First it was performing contracts and now appraisals have become a norm. The trend is catching on even in the public sector where key performance indicators are tracked to keep people in their jobs. That is not how it’s supposed to be. We should be responsible and do our job. But being Kenyans, we tend to loath work even if it pays our bills and sustains our livelihoods so long as pay comes through.
To support employers and inculcate a serious working culture in Kenya, the government should promote payment based on production. In most developed economies, workers are paid depending on how much they produce or the hours they work.
Pegging pay on production would have positive results. Employees will work harder to earn more. This will reward hard work rather than the current model where the more you work the less you are paid. Most employers overwork some employees to pay those who lazy around or engage in their private business using company hours.
This flippant behaviour is notorious in government where someone can even miss work for a week and still get his salary and allowances for meetings he or she never attended. Unless we fix these inefficiencies, the burden of high wages will eventually kill industry and overload government, which means more taxes.
Kenya, under Vision 2030, is ripe for a radical change in employment system. The labour pains will be severe but the fruits will be shared by all.
The writer is managing editor of businesstoday.co.ke. Email: [email protected]. This article appears in PW Weekend tomorrow. Look out for a copy.
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