Labour law compliance, organisational leadership and Employee accountability in star rated hotels in Uasingishu County Kenya

Abstract

Employee accountability is crucial in Kenya’s hospitality sector yet labour law compliance remains a challenge. Hotels often face low wages, demanding conditions, and high informal employment, exacerbated by weak enforcement of regulations on fair wages, working hours, and safe work environments. Poor accountability has severe consequences, affecting both employees and Organisational performance. However, research on the effect of Labour Law Compliance (LLC) on Employee Accountability (EA) and the moderating influence of Organisational leadership remains limited. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of Labour Law Compliance (LLC) on Employee Accountability (EA) in Star-rated hotels in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Specifically, the study determined the effects of Employment Act Compliance (EAC), Occupational Safety and Health Act Compliance (OSHAC) and Labour Relations Act Compliance (LRAC) on Employee Accountability. It also determined the moderating effect of leadership, specifically transactional and transformational leadership on the relationships between LLC and EA and explored the perception of LLC. The study was anchored on Koppell’s Accountability, Compliance House Model and System theory. The study used a mixed-method quantitative and qualitative approach. The target population comprised 465 employees from 8-star rated hotels of which 215 formed the sample size including 8 managers and 2 labour officers. Stratified sampling was employed to subdivide the population into smaller groups, or strata, based on their respective departments. Simple random sampling was then utilized to select employees from these strata, while purposive sampling was applied to select managers and labour officers. Quantitative data from employees were collected using structured questionnaire while qualitative data from managers used interview schedules and for labour officers was dyadic interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and PROCESS macro while qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. Findings revealed that LLC explained up to 35.1% of the variance in EA (R 2 =0.351). Moreover, EAC (β=0.387, t=3.299, p<0.05) and LRAC (β=0.384, t=3.760, p<0.05) had a positive and statistically significant effect on employee accountability. However, OSHAC (β=0.063, t=0.673, p>0.05) had a positive but non- significant effect on EA. Further, transformational leadership (TFL) moderated the relationship between LLC and EA (β=0.393, t=2.357, p<0.05). Transactional leadership did not significantly moderate the relationship between LLC and EA (β=0.104, t=0.666, p>0.05). Managers and labour officers reported a positive perception of labour law compliance. The study concluded that EAC and LRAC affect employee accountability while OSHAC does not; transformational leadership moderates the relationship between LLC and EA whereas transactional leadership does not impact. The study recommends hotel managers to communicate, implement and train employees on LRA compliance; review and update the EAC to address job security, fair wages and employee rights; allocate resources for OSHAC enforcement and embrace transformational leadership to empower employees, enhance compliance and promote accountability. New knowledge is that LRAC has more impact on employee accountability than EAC & OSHAC hence synergy between the legislations have the potential to maximize collective impact on EA.