Kenyatta University (KU) has been stopped by the Court of Appeal from changing the terms of employment of 26 employees to seasonal contracts.
The group had worked in the higher learning institution for over 10 years as plumbers, painters, electricians, carpenters and masons.
The university wrote an internal memo on July 9, 2018 asking a section of its workers –whom it had paid monthly salaries continuously for years— to sign seasonal contracts on July 19, 2018.
The employees, who were previously paid in cash after every two weeks, argued that the institution was trying to pull them back into casual employment.
Appeal judges Daniel Musinga, Francis Tuiyott and George Odunga said the decision will not apply to the 26 staff who sued the university.
"Regarding declaration (d), it shall only apply to the respondents here," the judges said in reference to an earlier judgment by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
The employment court had declared in part "d" of its judgment of December 10, 2021 that the memo was null and void and of no legal force.
The Court of Appeal also directed that the 26 employees be paid overtime for three years before their petition was filed. This will limit the payout compared to employment court's order which awarded them overtime that was due and unpaid to the date of that court's decision.
The Court of Appeal amended some of the orders of the employment court, limiting the awards that the employees had scored earlier.
“The argument by the university is that as the petition was not a representative suit, the nullification should only apply to the parties that were before the trial court. There is merit in this argument. The respondents never sought a decision in rem and none could be granted,” the appellate court said.
“We think and hold that...the award should be limited to a period not exceeding three years before the petition was filed,” the court added in reference to the overtime entitlement.
