Court rules SRC has final say on salaries of all public officers
The ruling nullifies the ELRC’s previous verdict, which had declared SRC’s directive of July 4, 2012, inapplicable to State corporations.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has the legal authority to set and regulate salaries for all public officers in State corporations, including the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Justices Asike Makhandia, Agnes Kalekye Murgor, and Sankale ole Kantai overturned an earlier decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), reaffirming that NSSF employees fall under the category of public officers as defined in Article 230 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
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The ruling nullifies the ELRC’s previous verdict, which had declared SRC’s directive of July 4, 2012, inapplicable to State corporations. The Court of Appeal found that the ELRC had misinterpreted the law in determining that NSSF employees were not subject to SRC regulations.
“In reaching the conclusion that the employees of the NSSF are not subject to the requirements of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Act and regulations, we find that the Employment and Labour Relations Court misapprehended the Constitution and the law, and in so doing, arrived at the wrong decision, as a consequence of which it is necessary to interfere with that decision,” the ruling delivered on February 28, 2025, read in part.
The dispute dates back to 2016, when NSSF, the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers, and the Attorney General challenged SRC’s directive regulating salary negotiations at NSSF.
The ELRC initially ruled in favour of the petitioners, effectively limiting SRC’s oversight. However, SRC appealed the decision, arguing that its constitutional mandate to regulate public officers’ remuneration had been undermined.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling reinforced SRC’s jurisdiction over remuneration in State corporations, clarifying that salaries paid from either Parliament’s annual national budget or funds retained by State corporations fall under SRC’s purview.
The judgment provides much-needed clarity on SRC’s role at both national and county government levels, reaffirming the commission’s oversight as outlined in the Constitution and the SRC Act, 2011.
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