Daniel Mwanje Lihanda v Eldochem Limited [2017] KEELRC 1980 (KLR)

The Respondent suggested the Court's jurisdiction was restricted to trade union disputes. The Court rejected this as misguided and legally misplaced, grounding jurisdiction in section 87 of the Employment Act, 2007 and section 12(1)(a) of the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act, which confer jurisdiction over individual employment and breach of contract disputes.

The Claimant testified he worked from 9.00am to beyond 6.00pm but never disclosed the contractually agreed working hours or the prescribed hours in the industry. Different Regulation of Wages Orders prescribe different hours; without evidence of the applicable Order or a contractual agreement, the Court could not find that unpaid overtime was worked.

Paternity leave becomes due when a male employee gets a baby, but the Claimant did not disclose when the babies were born, their details, or that he sought and was denied paternity leave. On pro-rated leave, although 8 months equivalent was pleaded, no reference was made to it in testimony; had a foundation been laid, the Respondent would have been expected to produce employment records.

Under section 31 of the Employment Act, 2007, where accommodation is not provided the contract should specify how much remuneration is for accommodation unless it is expressed as consolidated. Neither the contract nor the pay slips indicated consolidation or a house allowance element, so the Court found the Claimant entitled to at least 15% of the basic wage: Kshs 231,750/- for 103 months on a constant salary of Kshs 15,000/-.