The Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), the regulatory agency mandated by law to police the profession, has fired a warning shot by taking five HR chiefs to court for working without practising certificates.
The five who have been taken to court for practising as HR professionals without a licence from the regulator work at Naivasha horticultural firms.
Those wishing to be registered as HR professionals in Kenya pay a mandatory Sh7,000 annual membership fee to the regulatory body.
More than 15,000 human resource (HR) professionals risk hefty fines and jail terms for failing to acquire practising certificates in line with a law intended to weed out quacks in the industry.
The Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), the regulatory agency mandated by law to police the profession, has fired a warning shot by taking five HR chiefs to court for working without practising certificates. Those found guilty face a Sh200,000 fine or a two-year jail term or both, which could consequently see them lose their jobs.
“They (HR professionals) need to come out and register. Employers should also ask if their staff in the HR department are compliant with the law. We have written to all employers to ensure they comply,” said executive director of IHRM Dorcas Wainaina in an interview.
The Human Resource Management Professionals Act, which made it a mandatory requirement to acquire practising certificates, took effect in January 2013.
Only 10,000 out of the estimated 25,000 professionals in the industry have been licensed so far, meaning that only four out of every 10 persons working as HR staff are registered, according to data gathered by the institute.
“This law was enacted more than four years ago. We’ve kept extending the deadline. We can’t keep extending,” said Ms Wainaina.
The case also enjoins “any other uncertified human resource practitioner in the Republic of Kenya”, according to court filings.
The five who have been taken to court for practising as HR professionals without a licence from the regulator work at Naivasha horticultural firms.
They include Issa Wafula (group HR manager at Zena Roses) and Eva Okallo (group HR manager at Naivasha-based VP Group).
Others are Vitalis Osodo, regional HR manager at Kongoni River Farm, a subsidiary of VP Group, and Stephen Owuor and Eliud Aonda Barasa — both of whom served as HR managers at the flower firm.
Industrial Court judge Hellen Wasilwa last Friday certified the case as urgent and ordered that the matter be heard inter parties on June 19.
The case was precipitated by Kongoni River Farm’s move to sack 530 workers in April this year after the employees reportedly demanded pay slips, an action which was challenged by the trade union.
The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union, headed by Francis Atwoli, moved to court to contest the sackings, saying it was by persons not licensed by law to undertake HR-related decisions.
“A person shall practise as a human resource management professional if he is the holder of a practising certificate that is in force,” says Article 18(1) of the Act.
IHRM is established under the Human Resource Management Professionals Act (2012) and is mandated to regulate the training, registration and licensing of HR practitioners.
Those wishing to be registered as HR professionals in Kenya pay a mandatory Sh7,000 annual membership fee to the regulatory body.
The law was enacted in a fresh bid to weed out quacks from the HR profession, by ensuring that only those with the requisite academic training perform HR roles.
Ms Wainaina said that those with at least 15-year work experience but don’t hold academic qualifications in HR can be licensed by the institute, and are then offered a window to pursue a diploma or degree in HR.
Human resource officers are involved in management of human capital through recruiting staff, training, performance-rewarding through salaries and motivation, and enhancing employee-employer relations.
The institute has an examinations board that has already developed a Kenyan professional qualification dubbed Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) — achieved in three levels.
Exams for CHRP I, II and III are administered twice a year in June/July and November/December. Exemptions are given to holders of degrees and diploma in HR, according to the board.
Enforcing the licensing rules means HR now joins other professions whose teaching and practice is regulated, such as engineering, pharmacy, medicine, public health, nursing, law, architecture and quantity surveying.
