Chege v Timsales Ltd (Civil Appeal 29 of 2020) [2025] KECA 1660 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed employees cannot use same-day retirement notices to escape disciplinary proceedings — the employer's dismissal stood.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the appellant's retirement from employment was valid
- 2.What reliefs the appellant was entitled to
Key legal issues
#Validity of the appellant's purported retirement notice
The retirement notice, served the same day it was to take effect and without notice, one year after the appellant stopped working, was invalid and was a tactic to evade a lawful disciplinary process backed by a court decision
The CBA provision allowing retirement at 47 years was silent on notice, so the statutory notice regime under section 35 of the Employment Act applied. The retirement letter was issued a year after the appellant left work and served the same day the show-cause notice was issued, showing intent to evade the disciplinary process. A retirement notice aimed at evading disciplinary proceedings can be lawfully disregarded, as the disciplinary process was lawfully commenced and sanctioned by Onyango, J's unappealed ruling.
Whether disciplinary proceedings could continue against the appellant
Yes. The show-cause notice preceded the purported retirement, so the employer-employee relationship had not lawfully ceased and the disciplinary process was lawful
Following Onyango, J's unappealed ruling, the respondent lawfully issued notices to show cause. The appellant refused to attend, squandering his opportunity to be heard. Had the appellant submitted a valid notice of retirement, the outcome would have differed, since an employee cannot be disciplined after the employment relationship lawfully ends - but the purported notice was invalid.
Standard of interference on a first appeal
The Court must re-assess the evidence and reach its own conclusions, but will not lightly differ from trial findings of fact unless based on no evidence or wrong principles
As a first appeal, the Court re-evaluates the evidence on record and arrives at its own independent conclusions. However, deference is owed to the trial judge who saw and heard the witnesses, and interference is justified only where findings rest on no evidence or on demonstrably wrong principles.
Legal principles established
#- An employee cannot escape a lawful disciplinary process by tendering a resignation or retirement 'with immediate effect'; a retirement notice aimed at evading disciplinary proceedings may be lawfully disregarded
- Where the employment contract or CBA is silent on notice for termination, the default notice periods under section 35 of the Employment Act apply
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is dismissed
- 2.The appellant to pay costs of the appeal to the respondent
- 3.The trial court's judgment rendered by Mbaru, J on April 27, 2020 in Nakuru ELRC Cause No 58 of 2019 is affirmed
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
- On appeal from
- Employment and Labour Relations Court, Nakuru
- ELRC Cause No 58 of 2019
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appeal to the Court of Appeal against the judgment of the Employment and Labour Relations Court
Relief refused
#Declaration that the disciplinary process and the resultant dismissal was null and void
The purported retirement without notice was invalid and did not preclude the disciplinary hearing; charges were issued before any purported retirement
Retirement benefits, gratuity, leave pay and compensation under article 23(3)(e) of the Constitution
The appeal failed on the validity of the retirement, so the reliefs were unmerited
Costs and interests both before the trial court and this Court
Costs were awarded to the respondent, not the appellant
Costs
Appeal dismissed with costs to the respondent; the trial court's judgment affirmed
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
an employee can not escape the disciplinary process by tendering a resignation or a retirement "with immediate efiect." There exists nothing like "resignation with immediate efiect" in the employment context unless the employer waives the notice period
An employee's retirement notice aimed at evading a disciplinary process is unacceptable. The key legal principle here is the need to avoid subverting due process. This is because such a retirement notice can be lawfully disregarded if it is a tactic to escape disciplinary proceedings.
the charges against the appellant were issued before his retirement, his subsequent purported retirement without notice was invalid and it did not preclude him from being subjected to the disciplinary hearing
Accordingly, we dismiss it with costs to the respondent and afirm the trial court's judgment rendered by Mbaru, J on April 27, 2020 in Nakuru Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) Cause No 58 of 2019. It is so ordered.
Issues in the judgment
#Recurring typographical corruption in the text ('efiect' for 'effect', 'afionce'/'ofience' for 'offence', 'violatioin', 'afiorded', 'difierent') suggests OCR defects in the supplied copy; quotes are reproduced as they appear
The judgment describes the appellant as having 'a valid reason to subject the appellant to a disciplinary process', apparently intending 'the respondent' as the subject
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Rift Valley Bottles Ltd v Thuo (Civil Appeal E235 of 2021) [2026] KECA 1495 (KLR)[2026] KECA 1495 (KLR)24 Jul 2026followed
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Chege v Timsales Ltd (Civil Appeal 29 of 2020) [2025] KECA 1660 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Appeal from Nakuru Employment and Labour Relations Court Cause No 58 of 2019 (memorandum of appeal dated June 18, 2020). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2025/1660/eng@2025-10-21
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.