ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
National Social Security Fund Act
2. Interpretation
Edition: 2022-12-31 · In force
2. Interpretation
(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"actuary" has the meaning assigned to it in the Retirement Benefits Act (Cap. 197);"annual general meeting" means an annual general meeting convened in accordance with section 63;"Auditor-General" means the Auditor-General appointed under Article 229 of the Constitution;"Authority" means the Retirement Benefits Authority established under section 3 of the Retirement Benefits Act (Cap. 197);"benefit" means a benefit payable under this Act;"brother" means brother by any law obtaining in Kenya and includes half-brother;"Board" means the National Social Security Fund Board of Trustees established under section 5;"Cabinet Secretary" means the Cabinet Secretary for the time being responsible for matters relating to Social security;"contract of service" means an agreement, whether entered into orally or in writing, and whether express or implied, to employ or to serve as an employee for a period of time and includes a contract of apprenticeship or indentured learnership;"contracted-out scheme" means an occupational retirement benefits scheme including an umbrella retirement benefits scheme or an individual retirement benefit scheme which has been approved and registered by the Authority for purposes of receiving Tier II Contributions and, where applicable, Tier II Fund Credit transfers from the Fund;"contribution" means a contribution payable under this Act;"court" means the High Court of Kenya;"daughter" includes a stepdaughter, an illegitimate daughter and a daughter adopted in any manner recognized under the law of Kenya;"dependent relative" means, in relation to a deceased member of the Fund, any relative of the deceased who survives the deceased and who, on the date of the deceased’s death was—(a)a wife or husband of the deceased;(b)a son or daughter of the deceased who had not attained the age of twenty five years; or(c)parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister son, daughter or such other relative who was wholly or substantially dependent on the deceased for the provision of the ordinary necessities of life suitable for a person of his station;"emigration benefit" means the benefit payable under section 39 and 46;"employee" means any person who has attained the age of eighteen years and who is—(a)employed in Kenya under a contract of service;(b)ordinarily resident in Kenya and is employed outside Kenya (or partly in and partly outside Kenya) under a contract of service entered into with an employer who resides in or has a place of business in Kenya; or(c)is ordinarily resident in Kenya and is employed under a contract of service as master or a member of the crew of any ship, or as pilot, commander, navigator or member of the crew of any aircraft, where the owner of the ship or aircraft (or managing owner if there is more than one owner) or the manager resides in or has a place of business in Kenya,but does not include any person who—(i)is undergoing full-time instruction in a school, or in any such place of education or training as may be prescribed for the purposes of this definition, or who is an apprentice; and(ii)is not in receipt of wages which provide him wholly or substantially with a livelihood;"employer" means a person, public body, firm, corporation or company who or which has entered into a contract of service and includes the Government;"employee’s share" in relation to a contribution, means such part of that contribution, if any, as the employer may lawfully deduct from the wages of the employee in respect of whom that contribution is payable;"exempt person" means any person of a class or description specified in the First Schedule;"financial year" means a period of twelve months ending on the 30th June in every year;"Fund" means the National Social Security Fund established by section 3;"funeral grant" means a grant payable under section 40;"Government" means the Government of the Republic of Kenya;"grandchild" means a son or daughter of a son or daughter;"grandparent" means a parent of a parent;"guardian" means a person who is not the child, parent, or spouse of a deceased member of the Fund, but who upon the death of a member has the care of a child or the children of the deceased member;"income" means any income received or accrued, including penalties referred to in section 27 and, if applicable, part or all of any expenses paid or accrued, and any capital appreciation or depreciation realized and unrealized;"interest" means, in relation to each Member, the investment income credited to the accounts of individual members at such rates as the Board may, in consultation with the Actuary or such other qualified person, determine, in their reasonable discretion from time to time declare, at least annually, having regard to the income on the Fund’s assets;"invalidity benefit" means the invalidity benefit payable under section 38 and section 44;"Lower Earnings Limit" means, subject to the Third Schedule, for each financial year, the amount gazetted by the Cabinet Secretary from time to time as the average statutory minimum monthly basic wage for the top urban centres, second tier urban centres and rural areas for the year;"managing trustee" means the chief executive officer of the Fund appointed under section 15 and includes any person acting in the office of the managing trustee whenever the office is vacant or the holder of the office is absent for any reason incapable of acting;"member" means a person who is registered as a member of the Provident Fund or Pension Fund pursuant to this Act;"National Average Earnings" means for each financial year, the average wage earnings per employee as published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in the Economic Survey for the prior year;"Old Provident Fund" means Old Provident Fund retained under section 18(2);"parent" means a father or mother, and includes a step parent and a parent by adoption of a child adopted in any manner recognized under the law of Kenya;"pensionable age" means the age of sixty years;"pensionable earnings" means for a Pension Fund Member, the lower of the member’s monthly wages and the Upper Earnings Limit;"Pension Fund" means the Pension Fund established under section 18(1)(a) ;"Pension Fund Credit" means, in relation to each Pension Fund member at any particular date, an amount equal to the aggregate of the prescribed Pension Fund contributions by and in respect of the member and any transfer payment received in respect of the member with interest thereon;"Pension Fund Member" means a member of the Pension Fund;"permanent total incapacity" means such incapacity of a permanent nature that renders a person incapable of performing any duty or task that the person was capable of undertaking before the accident, illness or other occurrence that was the cause of that incapacity;"previous Fund" means the body corporate formerly known as the National Social Security Fund Board of Trustees under the repealed National Social Security Fund Act;"Protected Rights" means the benefits under a contracted out scheme which derive from Tier II Contributions and which must be provided in a specified form as a condition of contracting out;"Provident Fund" means the Provident Fund established by section 18(1)(b);"Provident Fund Member" means a member of the Provident Fund;"Provident Fund Credit" means, in relation to each member of the Provident Fund at any particular date, an amount equal to the aggregate of the voluntary contributions made by the Provident Fund Member including any transfer payment received in respect of the Provident Fund member with interest thereon;"reference Scheme Test" means the test of scheme quality which schemes have to meet in order to contract out of the pension as described in the Fourth Schedule hereto;"Registered Insurer" means an insurance company authorized to carry on long term business as such under the Insurance Act;"Retirement pension" means the pension benefit payable under section 36;"self employed person" means a person who has no other employer but works on his own account;"sister" means sister by any law obtaining in Kenya and includes half-sister;"spouse" means a female or male spouse;"social security" means basic social security provided under this Act;"son" includes a stepson, an illegitimate son and a son adopted in any manner recognized under the law of Kenya;"Survivor’s pension" means the benefit granted under section 37 and section 43;"Tier I Contributions" means for any month, contributions in respect of Pensionable Earnings up to the Lower Earnings Limit;"Tier II Contributions" means for any month, contributions in respect of Pensionable Earnings above the Lower Earnings Limit;"Tier I Pension Fund Credit" means in relation to each Pension Fund Member, the portion of the Pension Fund Credit at any particular date equal to the aggregate of the Tier I Contributions by and in respect of the Member less deduction for covering the estimated annual cost of minimum benefits on death and disability with interest thereon provided that the maximum deduction for the funeral grant and minimum benefits on death and disability shall not exceed two per cent of the Lower Earning Limit per Pension Fund member;"Tier II Pension Fund Credit" means the portion of the Pension Fund Credit, if any, at any particular date equal to the aggregate of the Tier II contributions by and in respect of the member with interest thereon and any transfer payment received in respect of the member with interest thereon;"Tribunal" has the meaning assigned to it under the Retirement Benefits Act (Cap. 197);"Trivial Amount" means any amount which shall be, from time to time, determined by the Authority which shall not be less than fifty percent of the average statutory minimum wage prescribed by the Cabinet Secretary;"Upper Earnings Limit" subject to the Third Schedule, for each financial year means the level of earnings equal to four times National Average Earnings;"voluntary contributions" means voluntary contributions which a member may choose to pay to the Provident Fund or Pension Fund in order to secure benefits;"wages" include all emoluments payable to an employee under a contract of service if no deductions were made, in pursuant to any law requiring or permitting the making of any deduction or otherwise excluding fluctuating emoluments;(2)In this Act, any reference to this Act includes a reference to regulations made thereunder.