Determination and compensation of wages are concepts whose determinants may not necessarily be the same. Different sectors have a stipulated system of pay whereby workers are paid depending on their ranks or job grades, while others use individual characteristics such as education level, sex and work experience. In Kenya, minimum wage determination and fixing form an integral approach of wage setting in the domestic services sector aimed at protecting the domestic workers from exploitation. Despite the Government’s regulations and guidelines on minimum wage, domestic services sector workers who are otherwise performing almost the same work that requires the same skills in the same location area are paid different rates of wages as opposed to the set minimum wages. While many theories regarding wage compensation have been proposed, empirical studies on wage determination in the domestic services sector is scarce. The study therefore sought to establish underlying factors that influence wage determination in the domestic service sector in Kahawa and Githurai estates in Kiambu County, Kenya. Specific objectives were: To determine the effect of education level in years of schooling; work experience; type of residence of a domestic worker (rural or urban); sex of domestic workers and domestic worker’s dwelling on wages in the domestic service sector in Kahawa and Githurai estates.
