Carrefour Two Rivers Following the recent controversial sacking of Byron Makokha, another employee at Carrefour Kenya's Two Rivers Mall branch has come forward with more complaints against the management.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that staff members have long been overworked and underpaid.
He revealed that they are expected to work more than 14 hours a day, with some employees starting work at 5 pm and leaving as late as 8 pm.
According to the source, many complaints were lodged with Carrefour's Dubai Head Office, and an auditor was sent to investigate.
The auditor found the complaints to be true and held a meeting with the Human Capital representative Daniel Ponde and management to discuss the issue.
It was agreed that extra hours worked would be compensated in cash, not in leaves. However, after the auditor left Kenya, the management made their own resolution that compensation should be converted into special leaves, breaching the agreement signed.
The Human Capital head Daniel Ponde is said to have deliberately forgotten his duties and is more focused on pleasing the top management.
He is always busy pulling meaningless PR stunts like serving employees food once a year. The source also claims that despite their hard work, none of their efforts are recognized by the Carrefour management.
Employees are reportedly forced to relieve themselves by lying down on boxes and floors while waiting for their next shift.
Cashiers are also being forced to collect donations from customers, which the source found to be unethical, as donations should only be given willingly. The anonymous employee expressed deep regret over the sacking of Byron Makokha, who he described as a very hardworking and focused individual who fought for their rights as employees.
The sacking of Makokha has reportedly demoralized the staff at Carrefour Two Rivers, who fear that they too could be sacked if they speak out against the poor working conditions.
Makokha had written to us on Thursday, February 2, 2023, detailing the alleged violations of the code of conduct by his line manager, Head of the Department Immanuel Toris, and Supervisor Geoffrey Langat.
He claimed that junior staff were constantly intimidated, frustrated, and insulted by the aforementioned supervisors.
He had attempted to raise the issue with management, but no action was taken, which prompted him to seek the help of the media in getting the matter highlighted.
Carrefour responded to Makokha’s allegations with a show-cause letter, accusing him of making unverified claims.
However, Makokha maintained that his revelations were factual and offered a response letter to support his claims.
But the hypermarket was not satisfied with his response and invited him to a disciplinary hearing.
After a disciplinary meeting on February 13, 2022, the committee ruled that Makokha had breached his contractual obligations and the company’s code of ethics, resulting in his dismissal for “gross misconduct”.
Last week, the Head Office in Dubai demanded an explanation from Carrefour Two Rivers regarding the mistreatment of staff members and Makokha's sacking.
It remains to be seen whether the company will take any action to address the concerns raised by its employees.