Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) in Kenya: What it Covers

The Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) was enacted to guarantee the compensation of workers for injuries that arise while they are working and also for health conditions contracted in the course of their employment. The Act is indispensable for both employers and employees because it provides guidelines on how employees are to be compensated and when claims of compensation may be turned down. Here is a basic highlight of the provisions in the Work Injury and Benefits Act.

Compensation of Workers

An employee is entitled to compensation under the Work Injury Benefits Act if he/she suffers disability or dies in a work-related accident. An employer is required to compensate their employee for work related injuries in accordance with the Work Injury Benefits Act. However, an employee cannot seek compensation if an accident that causes disablement or death is a result of their deliberate misconduct. Additionally, injury is considered to have led to disablement if the employee experiences a permanent disablement of 40% or more.

Classification of Work Injury Benefits

Work injuries can either be permanent incapacity, temporary incapacity, or fatal injuries resulting in the death of an employee.

For permanent incapacity, the worker is entitled to 96 months of their insured monthly earnings. For permanent partial disability, the worker is entitled to 60 months of their insured monthly earnings.

For temporary disability, the worker needs to get certification from a medical board. After getting such certification, and where the incapacity last for more than three days, they may get temporary disablement of 50% of their average daily earnings.

For fatal injuries, the benefits go to the fully dependent’s survivors. The survivors are entitled to 60 months of the deceased’s earnings. In the event that the dependent has no fully dependent survivors, a reduced benefit will be paid to their partially dependent survivors.

The act also supports funeral grants. Where the worker died in the line of duty, a lump sum of the total cost of the funeral will be given to the dependents. However, if there are no dependents, the deceased’s employer will pay Kshs. 20,000.