The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has been directed to reinstate a teacher who was demoted and subjected to a salary deduction that left him earning only Ksh1.25 per month.
The order follows an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman (CAJ), which found that TSC violated labour laws and constitutional provisions on fair treatment of employees.
According to the Ombudsman, the teacher was unfairly demoted from headteacher to assistant teacher without being accorded a hearing or any form of consultation as required by law.
The teacher then petitioned the Ombudsman, which later after investigations, ruled that the demotion amounted to an unfair labour practice and a breach of due process under both the Employment Act and the Fair Administrative Action Act.
''The demotion was unfair and constitutes an unfair labour practice, violating both the Employment Act and the Fair Administrative Action Act, which require prior consultation with the employee and a fair procedure,'' the Ombudsman stated in its report.
When Tribulations Began
The case dates back to 2021, when the teacher began noticing continuous deductions from his salary amounting to Ksh515,847.85, allegedly to recover what TSC termed as overpayment.
These deductions left him with a small net pay that made it nearly impossible to sustain himself, forcing him to lodge a formal complaint with the CAJ in October 2024.
Initially, the teacher had been serving as a headteacher at Mbimbini Primary School between 2014 and 2017 before being transferred to Sakai Primary School as an assistant teacher.
TSC later claimed his headteacher appointment was an error and moved to recover all 'overpaid' amounts dating back to 2017.
However, the Ombudsman faulted TSC for failing to provide evidence of how the alleged appointment error occurred and who was responsible for the same, noting that the teacher’s headteacher appointment was confirmed in official correspondence, yet no disciplinary or administrative process was initiated before his demotion.
CAJ further observed that TSC failed to comply with Section 10(5) of the Employment Act, which requires employers to consult employees before altering the terms of their employment.
Additionally, the commission pointed to Section 19(3) of the Employment Act, which mandates that employees must retain at least one-third of their gross salary to maintain their dignity and livelihood.
The Ombudsman also dismissed TSC’s position that the teacher’s appointment as headteacher was erroneous, stating that the commission failed to show any formal investigations or disciplinary action to support that claim.
Consequently, the Commission directed TSC to reinstate the teacher to his rightful position, pay all outstanding dues, and refund the amounts unlawfully deducted since August 2021.
