Registering with NSSF as an employer
How a Kenyan business registers with NSSF as an employer, the documents it needs, registering staff as members and the earnings records to keep.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
Hiring your first employee in Kenya sets off a small chain of registrations. KRA needs to know about PAYE, the Social Health Authority about SHIF, NITA about the training levy, and the National Social Security Fund about pension contributions. NSSF registration is the one many new employers leave until someone asks for proof of it, usually at the worst possible moment, such as the day a tender closes.
This article explains who must register, what NSSF asks for, the two ways to apply, the duty to register staff as members and the earnings records that follow.
Every employer with one employee or more
Section 19 of the National Social Security Fund Act, 2013, as consolidated on Kenya Law, requires every employer with one employee or more to register with the Fund as a contributing employer, and to register its employees as members.
The threshold is as low as it can be. A sole proprietor with one shop assistant is a contributing employer. Not registering is an offence carrying a fine of up to Kenya shillings fifty thousand, and the Act makes proof of registration a condition for dealing with or accessing public services. A business that hopes to supply a county government or bid for public contracts should expect to be asked for that proof; SHIF and NSSF proof for government work covers what is usually requested.
Documents for companies and for individuals
NSSF's guidance distinguishes two kinds of employer.
A company or business submits the registration form with its certificate of incorporation or business name registration, and its trading licence.
An individual registering as an employer, for example a household employing a domestic worker or a professional practising in their own name, attaches a copy of a national ID card, passport or alien ID.
Gather clean copies before you start. If the name on the trading licence differs from the registered name, sort that out first, or expect questions.
Decide too who in the business will own the NSSF relationship. Registration, monthly returns, payments and any compliance visit all go more smoothly when one named person, with a deputy, holds the login, the confirmation papers and the diary of due dates, instead of whoever happens to be free that month.
Registering online or at an NSSF office
NSSF says a business registers as an employer by submitting the registration form at an NSSF office, with the documents above, or by starting the registration online.
Whichever route you take, keep a copy of what you submitted and the date. Keep NSSF's confirmation of registration with the business's KRA PIN certificate and NITA papers; the details on it will be needed for every return and payment.
After registration, the monthly routine moves online. NSSF says employers must submit returns electronically, because returns on portable media such as flash disks or CDs are not accepted, and that after filing on the e-Service portal they can pay contributions through *222# and M-PESA. Contributions for each month are due on or before the 9th of the following month; filing NSSF returns and paying contributions covers that routine in detail.
Registering employees as members
The Act's duty has two halves: the employer registers itself, and it registers its employees as members. An employee who became a member in a previous job will already have an NSSF number; one who has never been registered needs to be.
Make it part of onboarding. On a new employee's first day, ask for their national ID and any existing NSSF number, and do not let the first pay run go out until the employee's membership is sorted. This applies equally to casual and seasonal staff, as NSSF for casual and temporary workers explains.
Earnings records NSSF can inspect
Section 19(7) of the Act requires a registered employer to keep an up-to-date record of its employees' earnings, to produce it on demand to an NSSF compliance officer, and to retain it for the period the Board prescribes, which may not exceed ten years.
"Up to date" and "on demand" are the operative words. A compliance officer will not wait while someone reconstructs last year's wages from bank statements. The earnings record should be a by-product of each pay run, kept as you go: who was paid, how much, for which period, and what was contributed.
Setting up NSSF in Achekam payroll
In Achekam, a business sets itself up as an employer and runs payroll under Kenyan rules, chosen when the employer is created. The Kenyan payroll calculates NSSF Tier I and II together with PAYE, SHIF, the Affordable Housing Levy and the NITA levy, prepares the NSSF schedule from each approved pay run, and posts each contribution to its own liability account.
A practical order for set-up:
- Register the business with NSSF and file the confirmation.
- Create the employer in Achekam with Kenyan rules.
- Add employees one by one, or import them from a CSV file; the import checks every row and writes all rows or none.
- Make sure each employee's NSSF number is captured with their records before the first run.
- Run the first pay run, approve it, and check the NSSF schedule line by line before relying on it.
- Keep each approved run's schedule as part of the earnings record the Act requires.
NSSF's page for employers explains how a company or an individual registers as an employer and the duty to register every employee, and it is the place to start the online registration.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
