A Mechanic who sued his employer wrongful dismissal has been awarded Sh 800 as unpaid NSSF contribution by the court of appeal.
The judges while dismissing Michael Owino Alego’s appeal said it lacks merit and he was only entitled to the two months unpaid NSSF deductions that the company failed to pay.
“The respondent failed to prove that it remitted NSSF contributions for the months of November and December 2010. Hence, the appellant is entitled to NSSF contributions of Kshs.400×2,” the court ruled.
Alego who was being paid a daily wage of 500 had appealed the decision by the high court to dismiss his case against Kaibuta Contractors for unfair termination claiming it was unfair and unlawful.
However, Justices Hannah Okwengu, John Mativo and Ngenye Macharia said the high court did not err in dismissing his case agreeing with the lower court that his termination was above board.
“As to whether the termination was unfair and unlawful, there is no doubt that the appellant was employed for a specific project, upon whose completion his employment lapsed,” the court said.
The judges further noted that the work in the construction industry is based on projects which have specific commencement period and specific ending date; and that the employees are contracted to work for the duration of the project.
Therefore, to them Alego’s claim that his termination was unfair, unlawful and unconstitutional is unsustainable.
“And having suffered no loss, damage or a violation of his rights as alleged, he was not entitled to compensation,” the court ruled.
The judges further noted that from the Sh 500 daily wage paid to Alego, it included house allowance and being a casual labourer, he was not entitled to service pay.
“We are unable to fault the findings of fact and law arrived at by the learned trial Judge because, in our view, they were sound and based on the evidence adduced before him. We also find no error on his part in the manner he evaluated the evidence before him and in the application of the law before arriving at the decision he made,” the court ruled.
