When a multinational technology firm decided to make Nairobi its East African hub in early 2025, they faced a classic expansion dilemma: they had a list of ten employees ready to sign, but no legal entity in Kenya to hire them.
Setting up a local subsidiary typically takes 8 to 12 weeks, involving everything from tax registration to physical office leases. By the time the paperwork would have been ready, their top talent would have likely accepted other offers. Here is how we stepped in as their Employer of Record (EOR) to scale their team in just a few days.
Kenya’s labor market is highly skilled but strictly regulated. The company needed to navigate several "non-negotiable" requirements quickly:
Statutory Deductions: Accurate handling of PAYE (income tax), NSSF (social security), and the new SHIF (Social Health Insurance Fund) rates.
The Housing Levy: Ensuring the mandatory 1.5% deduction was correctly calculated and matched.
Cultural Alignment: Offering benefits that actually matter to Kenyan professionals, such as comprehensive medical cover that includes dependents.
The Solution: A 3-Phase Scaling Strategy
Phase 1: Rapid Infrastructure (Days 1–2)
Instead of the client waiting months for government approvals, we utilized our existing, fully compliant Kenyan entity. We immediately provided locally-compliant employment contracts that protected the client's Intellectual Property (IP) while adhering to the Employment Act of 2007.
Phase 2: Compliant Onboarding (Days 3–4)
We moved all ten candidates through our payroll system. We handled the heavy lifting of:
Verifying tax and social security IDs.
Setting up payroll in Kenyan Shillings (KES) to avoid currency fluctuation issues for the staff.
Registering the team with the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), a requirement often missed by foreign firms.
Phase 3: "Go-Live" and Integration (Day 5)
By the fifth business day, the team was legally employed. We provided a single dashboard to the multinational’s HR lead in London, allowing them to approve payroll and view expense reports with one click, while we took on 100% of the legal employer liability in Kenya.
With new directives from the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) regarding professional licensing, having a local partner isn't just a shortcut, it’s a safety net. By using our EOR service, the multinational didn't just save time; they gained the agility to double their team size two months later without signing a single new government form.