Kenyan employers reckon that some issues could be heard and settled out of court.
They also say the move will allow the court to deal with more complex and substantive cases.
FKE also continued its push against President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to possibly raise the minimum wage.
The Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) has called for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in a bid to shift the pressure of smaller cases away from the labour court.
Kenyan employers reckon that a huge backlog of industrial cases is slowing down the speed with which they are resolved, saying some issues could be heard and settled out of court.
“Efforts have been made to expand the court, but because the new constitution and labour laws consolidated all labour-related cases to the Employment and Labour Relations Court, we have seen an upsurge of cases,” FKE boss Jacqueline Mugo said yesterday.
She said the move would allow the system to deal with more complex and substantive cases.
"In 2016, there were 1307 cases in court countrywide. Out of the number, 97 awards came out. 100 were from Coast, signifying the region is peaceful or that they are resolving their issues out of court," she said.
Avoid strikes
FKE says cases touching on termination of employment and employer/employee issues can be resolved through reconciliation, adding such avenues could have helped prevent recent strikes witnessed in the private and public sector.
“We are having a conversation with the Judiciary...Chief Justice David Maraga is open to these conversations and suggestions...We continue to urge that this is done to agree on a way of addressing labour cases without flooding the industrial court and avoiding strikes which have been on the increase paralysing crucial services,” she added.
Meanwhile, the FKE has continued its push against President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to possibly raise the minimum wage for workers on Labour Day.
Private sector employers renewed their call to Mr Kenyatta to be mindful of a challenging business environment and instead address the factors that have led to the rising cost of living.
This, the FKE says, will enable employers to not pass on costs of a higher wage bill to goods and services offered to Kenyans.
Ms Mugo says they are optimistic that the government took up their proposal on tax reforms on basic food commodities and the interim measures to be taken to tackle rising inflation.
“Like maize, because we believe this will ease costs of living for the lower income households, let us press on those issues. We hope that the government will approve the agreement in the proposed minimum wages for Kenyan workers we submitted last year,” she said.
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