This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
On March 31, 2020, Signature Holdings, a private members club, notified its employees that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was suspending all contractual benefits save for health cover and sent them on unpaid leave without salary for an indefinite period of time.
Seven employees, Moses Kamau, Nawire Wejuli, Shem Luchiri, Purity Gitonga, Wilfred Mugira, Paul Mukonza, and Wison Momanyi, felt aggrieved by the decision and moved to court arguing there were no prior consultations before they were sent on unpaid leave.
Labour and Employment Court judge Stephen Radido declined to grant the employees' prayers, including one that wanted their employer, Signature Holdings, forced to pay them full salaries and annul other actions taken in the wake of the pandemic.
Justice Radido found that Signature Holdings did not provide evidence of consulting the employees before sending them home, but instead urged the parties to sit and talk in good faith, noting that the court could issue orders at the tail end of the case if it finds that the law had been breached.
“While the primary duty of the court is to uphold the law and find a breach of the contract, the current situation created by Covid-19 pandemic makes the task of the court perilous,” the judge said in his ruling, adding that “the court may order the employer to meet its obligations under the contract but the ripple effect would be that the employer may be forced to declare redundancies.”
