A security company has been ordered to compensate seven people it dismissed in 2016 for allegedly participating in a protest and absenteeism.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi ruled that Lavington Security Limited's termination of their contracts was invalid and unfair.
The compensation ranges from Sh52,200 to Sh74,466 based on the 2016 schedule of wages on payslips or pay advice.
Yego Hillary, Rina Masinde, Adonijah Rabach, Kizito Onyango, David Obiero, Sarah Sitati and Samuel Momanyi had, through the Kenya National Private Security Workers Union, also sought to be reinstated without loss of benefits.
Justice Stephen Radido only compensated them for six months. He noted that they had been out of work for three years and that reinstatement was unlikely.
“Instead of reinstatement, the court is of the view that compensation is appropriate and fair. The court, in the event, awards each of the seven grievants the equivalent of six months gross wages as compensation,” the judge ruled.
It was the company's case that the seven abandoned work and or participated in an unsanctioned protest on September 5, 2016.
It said the workers ignored ultimatums to resume duty and declined to accept show-cause notices. This led to their summary dismissal on September 6, 2016.
A witness testified that the grievants neither participated in the alleged unsanctioned protest nor received the resume-duty ultimatums.
The reasons for their dismissal was their demand for delayed August 2016 wages and the company's unfair labour practices, the witness stated.
“According to the witness the grievants were instructed through their supervisors to report to head office on September 6, 2016, whereupon they were given dismissal letters,” court documents showed.
Justice Radido concluded that the cause for the complainants' dismissal was their agitation for better labour practices and ordered the company to compensate them.
- mwaniki fm
