Tech firm Microsoft East Africa ltd has been given 30 days to discuss bonus payments with two former employees who missed out on the windfall after leaving their jobs in 2019.
Justice James Rika ruled that Gloria Meli Musau and Moses Mwangi met the requirements for the bonus payment and there was no justification by the employer to withhold the compensation, even after they resigned from their jobs
Ms Musau, a former senior technical accountant and Mr Mwangi, a former senior technical accounts manager, resigned from their jobs in April 2014 and September 2019, respectively.
They sued the giant tech firm accusing it of failing to pay them the bonus as per clause 7.1 of their contracts.
“In the view of the Court, and going by the evidence availed by the Petitioners above, the Petitioners seem to have satisfied the requirements for the bonus payment, and there is no sufficient reason shown by the Respondent, why bonus for the Financial Year 2019 was not paid to the Petitioners,” the Employment and Labour relations court judge ruled.
The judge said although the contracts gave discretion to the employer on payment of bonus, the discretion was subject to the clause relating to performance parameters.
“The Court does not have doubt that bonus is merited, and had accrued, by the time the Petitioners left employment,” the judge ruled.
Ms Musau told the court that she received several customer testimonials who lauded her for her work and service and also had an impact on her colleagues besides playing a major role in driving the modern workplace seats in 2019.
Mr Mwangi on his part said that he closed the premier contract with Equity Bank at $83,000 and supported the growth of the cloud computing product Azure at Equity Bank through training of technical teams, and planning workshops, resulting in the growth of consumption at 466 percent among other achievements.
The court gave the parties one month from the date of the judgment on March 10, to discuss and agree on percentages to be adopted in the bonus payment.
The judge said in event of disagreement, the two will be paid at the percentages paid, in the 2018 financial year, based on their exit earnings.
The court, however, dismissed claims of racial discrimination advanced by the Kenyans saying they did not provide evidence to show that their counterparts in Egypt and the Netherlands who had resigned were paid the bonus while they were denied.
Justice Rika said the bonus payment was pegged on certain eligibility requirements, which had nothing to do with the colour of employees’ skin.
“The Petitioners were not able to present evidence of bonus paid to their colleagues, or show that they were themselves denied bonus on account of race,” Justice Rika said.
