Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union v Shalimar Flowers (K) Limited [2014] KEELRC 1436 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court awarded flower farm workers 10% annual wage increases, balancing employees' constitutional right to fair pay against the employer's financial capacity.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Determination of a fair wage increase where social partners have not agreed
A 10% increase for each of the two years of the CBA period was fair, based on the 20% rise in cost of living, the wage bill impact, and the employer's financial position
The Court identified the relevant factors as compensable factors (cost of living, productivity/cost of labour), past wage trends and the employer's financial position. The CPMU report confirmed a 20% cost of living rise but did not establish improved productivity. The Court declined a forensic mathematical exercise and balanced employees' right to fair remuneration against the employer's capacity, awarding 10% per year against competing proposals of 13.5% and 7%/5%.
Effective date of the wage increments
Increments effective 1 March 2014, based on the survival clause in the 2011-2013 CBA
The 2011-2013 CBA expired on about 28 February 2013 but contained a clause continuing it in force until amended by both parties. Negotiations failed for nearly a year and a half, and the Court held that the mutual agreement of the parties meant the awarded increments should take effect from 1 March 2014.
Weight of judicial precedents from other sectors
Authorities from different industrial sectors or overturned decisions are of limited assistance in wage-setting
Of the three authorities cited by the Union, the Court found the Leather Life EPZ decision concerned an exempt sector and was of little assistance, and the Kenya Kazi decision had been overturned by the Court of Appeal, so the Union's comparative precedents did not carry the day.
Legal principles established
#- In adjudicating wage disputes where parties have not agreed, the Court balances the compensable factors, past wage trends and the employer's financial position, while ensuring employees gain from the fruits of their labour without destroying the employer.
- The right to fair remuneration is a constitutional imperative that the Court must consider.
Court orders
#- 1.Award of a 10% wage increase effective 1 March 2014 and a further 10% effective 1 March 2015 to the unionisable employees of the Respondent
- 2.Each party to bear its own costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Reference of a reported trade dispute under the Labour Relations Act following conciliation before the Cabinet Secretary for Labour
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union v Shalimar Flowers (K) Limited [2014] KEELRC 1436 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2014). Not stated in judgment (Cause filed 12 March 2013). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2014/1436/eng@2014-11-14
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.