Parliament has moved to rein in the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, narrowing its reach and limiting its ability to shape how public officers are paid and managed, after lawmakers approved key amendments to proposed regulations governing remuneration and benefits in the public sector.
The decision follows a review of the Draft SRC (Remuneration and Benefits of State and Other Public Officers) Regulations, 2025 by the National Assembly’s Committee on Delegated Legislation, which made several changes that reduce the commission’s scope of authority.
At the centre of the changes is a shift that prevents the SRC from having broad control over salary structures across public institutions. Members of Parliament rejected provisions that would have allowed the commission to exert influence over pay frameworks established by bodies such as the Teachers Service Commission and the Public Service Commission.
Instead, the amendments reinforce the role of individual employers in managing their own staff and remuneration systems.
The committee, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga, removed a key clause that had proposed giving the commission authority to “keep under review all matters relating to salaries and remuneration of other public officers.” Lawmakers described the provision as ultra vires, arguing that it went beyond what the law allows the commission to do.
“Regulation 3(1)(iii) seeks to accord the Salaries and Remuneration Commission the mandate of keeping under review all matters relating to salaries and remuneration of other public officers. This is ultra vires to the Act,” the report reads.
With that position, MPs effectively ended the idea of continuous SRC oversight over pay and employment terms for officers who are not classified as state officers. The committee maintained that such responsibilities should remain with the respective employers, including national commissions and county governments, which already handle staffing and administrative matters within their institutions.
The report also pointed to the original design of the Constitution, stating that “the power to set salaries for general public officers was deliberately removed from the SRC’s ambit.” On this basis, lawmakers argued that extending SRC’s reach into broader salary management would contradict the intention behind its creation.
Another area affected by the amendments involves Collective Bargaining Agreements. SRC had proposed a role in approving such agreements, but Parliament declined to grant that power. Lawmakers said these agreements are closely tied to government policy and collective negotiations between employers and workers, and therefore should not fall under the commission’s direct control.
The committee also scaled back SRC’s role in job evaluations. Under the initial draft, the commission could initiate assessments of job roles even where institutions had not requested them. This raised concerns among some stakeholders who feared it could lead to unnecessary reviews and interference in the internal operations of public bodies.
The revised regulation now provides that a job evaluation “may be done upon the request of the public body.” This means ministries, state corporations, and county governments will decide when to seek such evaluations, giving them greater control over how their job structures are reviewed and assessed.
In addition, Parliament removed a provision that would have required public institutions to consult SRC before awarding financial rewards linked to performance. Lawmakers indicated that such matters are already covered under other legal and administrative frameworks, making SRC involvement unnecessary in that process.
The overall effect of the amendments is to scale back the commission’s involvement in day-to-day salary matters and reinforce the autonomy of public institutions in managing their workforce, marking a clear shift in how remuneration oversight will be handled going forward.