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Voi hotel to pay ex-watchman Sh1.2 million for unfair termination

Mombasa Law Courts. )(Photo: Judiciary)

By Joseph Ndunda | Friday, July 5, 2024

Justice Nzei said the hotel's act of retiring Mr. Chengo before he reached the age of 55 was wrongful and therefore unfair.

The Mombasa High Court has ordered Voi Safari Lodge to pay its former watchman Sh1.2 million for unfair termination of employment.

Justice Agnes Nzei of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered the hotel to pay Shadrack Kambi Chengo Sh916,154 as service gratuity for 35 years.

The court considered that Mr. Chengo had worked for the hotel for 33 years and would have worked there for an additional two years before attaining the contractual age of 55 years and therefore extended the gratuity by two years.

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According to the judge, the hotel's act of retiring Mr. Chengo on December 31, 2028, before he reached the age of 55 was wrongful and therefore unfair.

The hotel will pay Chengo Sh314,110 as compensation for unfair termination, raising the total amount to Sh1,230,264.

Mr. Chengo was earning a salary of Sh34,110 at the time of his termination, and the judge ordered the hotel to pay him a 10-month salary, equating to Sh314,110.

He had been employed at the hotel on August 1, 1985, for a monthly salary of Sh575 before scaling up. In July 2028, he wrote to the employer disputing the retirement age after the hotel gave him a six-month notice of retirement.

He protested, noting that he had not attained the required retirement age, and furnished the hotel with a National Identity Card indicating his year of birth as 1965 instead of 1963.

Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions and Hospital Workers (KUDHEIHA) sued the hotel on behalf of Mr. Chengo, who was its member.

The union had pleaded with the court to issue an order for Mr. Chengo to be paid Sh753,864, the salary that he would have earned for two years before attaining the retirement age of 55 years.

But Nzei said the payment was not available for Mr. Chengo since she had ordered him to be compensated for his unfair dismissal.

"The claim for Sh753,864 being the salary that would have been earned by Mr. Chengo for two years before attaining the retirement age of 55 years is declined, in view of the award (of 916,154) already made herein for unfair termination of employment," stated Ms Nzei.

"Further, such an award is not available to Mr. Chengo under Section 49(2) of the Employment Act," Ms. Nzei stated.