Reprieve for Kenya Airways as court quashes recall of sacked staff
Outgoing Kenya Airways managing director Titus Naikuni (right) with his successor Mbuvi Ngunze during a past Press briefing. KQ's bid to tame its wage bill was bolstered Friday after the Appeals Court overturned a judgement that had reinstated 447 employees. Photo/SALATON NJAU
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The staff have however been awarded six months’ salary as damages, three months in lieu of notice in addition to the retrenchment package that has been offered by the airline.
Kenya Airways’ bid to tame its wage bill was bolstered Friday after the Appeals Court overturned a judgement that had reinstated 447 employees.
The three-judge Bench said Industrial Court Judge James Rika erred when he ruled that the retrenchment conducted by KQ in late 2012 was not justified.
However, the judges by majority ruling found that the procedure used to identify the staff to be laid off was opaque and not objective leading to unfair termination, and awarded the workers six months’ salary as damages, three months in lieu of notice in addition to the retrenchment package that has been offered by the airline.
“The court being unanimous, this appeal is allowed, the order of reinstatement with back pay is hereby set aside,” ruled the judges.
Justice Rika in December 2012 directed KQ to reinstate the employees noting that the job cuts amounted to unfair termination of employment because the process was not justified and did not follow the set procedures.
The national carrier shed 578 jobs in September 2012 to curb growing wage bill that had doubled from Sh6 billion in 2007 to Sh13.4 billion and the cuts were expected to reduce its staff cost by between 10 to 15 per cent or about Sh1.3 billion annually.
The Aviation and Allied Workers Union filed a lawsuit in the Industrial Court seeking to stop the airline's action on the grounds the management had breached the Labour relations Act that requires a firm to engage workers through their union before laying them off.
