A company linked to billionaire businessman Kiprop Bundotich alias Buzeki has been ordered to pay former employees millions of shillings for wrongful termination.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court directed the company to pay former employees Ksh2.8 million for unfair dismissal.
Further, Justice Agnes Nzei mandated Buzeki Enterprises Ltd to issue each of the 10 former workers with a certificate of service within 45 days.
Judge Nzei ruled that Buzeki Enterprises failed to comply with the required procedure set out in the Employment Act and failed to show a valid reason for terminating the employees’ contracts.
The Court noted that the employees who were also underpaid, contrary to 2013 and 2015 Wage Regulation Orders.
“The termination, therefore, fails both the procedural and substantive test, it was unfair,” ruled Justice Nzei.
“Pursuant to Section 35 (1) (c) of the Employment Act, the claimants’ employment contracts were terminable by either party giving a twenty-eight days’ written notice. Their employment could not, therefore, be terminated without giving notice,” Justice Nzei stated.
According to court documents, the former employees worked daily for a minimum of eight hours and sometimes worked overtime with little or no compensation.
The documents filed in court indicated that the workers were underpaid, in contravention of the Labour Institutions Act No. 17 of 2007, the 2013 Regulation of Wages (General Amendment) Order, and the 2015 Regulation of Wages (General Amendment) Order.
The court also heard that there were no formal employment contracts signed between the complainants and Buzeki Enterprises.
However, Buzeki Enterprises defended its actions stating that the former employees were casuals when they were hired by the firm.
The company also revealed that they were paid every 10 days via their mobile phones and due to limited work and hard economic conditions, the former employees were not offered work from about November 30, 2016.
