By The Weekly Vision Reporter
The management of Care Hospital has come under heavy criticism from a section of staff for their arbitrary hiring and firing practices and failure to provide compensation. The hospital is situated on Muinami Street in Pumwani, Nairobi County. Serah Kisulu, who served as a pharmaceutical technologist until her contract was terminated, decided to move to court over the issue and was compensated for the unfair termination of her contract.
Kisilu maintains that her contract of service was unjustly terminated without any valid justification and proper adherence to the required protocols. Conversely, the management asserts that the termination was solely due to her unsatisfactory performance. Kisilu was first engaged as a pharmaceutical technologist in November 2014. She was subsequently tasked with serving as the hospital’s pharmacy manager.
Her application to attend an annual conference in Mombasa, relevant to her area of specialization, was granted by the management in July 2021. Regrettably, the management officials later chose to retract their approval, despite her having already incurred expenses for the event. Further, she contended that right after the conference, she expeditiously returned to her workstation on September 21, 2021. Nevertheless, due to her pregnancy condition and discomfort, she requested a period off duty. She asserts that the doctor at the hospital prescribed two weeks of bed rest commencing on September 27, 2021. She was summoned by the hospital’s Human Resource Manager on October 1st, 2021, to retrieve a letter from the office. As she was still on bed rest, she requested that the letter be sent to her electronically, but the hospital management allegedly refused to accede to her request.
When she recommenced work on October 12, 2021, she was given a letter terminating her employment. She asserts that this turn of events caused her shock, ultimately leading to the loss of her pregnancy on October 31, 2021, as a result of a miscarriage. In a ruling dated 2/5/23 by Judge B.O. Manani, the judge noted, “As such, I arrive at the conclusion that the respondent did not follow due process in releasing the claimant from her employment.”
Having considered the evidence on record, I arrive at the following conclusions, declarations, and findings: that, however, the respondent did not observe due process in making its decision to sever the employment relationship between the parties. As a result, it is hereby declared that the decision to terminate the claimant’s employment was procedurally flawed. The final ruling reads, “As such, the claimant is compensated minimally for the unfair termination of her contract by an award of damages that are equivalent to her gross salary for two months, that is to say, Ksh. 155,826.”
