Owuor v Rea Vipingo Plantations Ltd (Cause 529 of 2018) [2022] KEELRC 1452 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court ruled a sisal company unfairly ended a piece-rate worker's engagement without 28 days' notice, awarding him Ksh.75,600.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the claimant was a casual or piece-rate employee
The claimant was a piece-rate employee, as shown by his own testimony, the payslips, the piece-rate payment register and the clearance form.
Section 2 of the Employment Act defines piecework as work paid by amount of work performed, and a casual employee as one engaged for not longer than 24 hours. The claimant admitted under cross-examination he was piece-rated and that his salary varied monthly. He signed the respondent's piece-rate payment register monthly and executed a clearance form as a piece-rate worker without disputing them.
Whether the claimant was terminated
The claimant's piece-rate engagement ended on completion of the assigned work and he was paid and cleared; the reason for ending the engagement was not invalid, but the process was procedurally unfair for want of 28 days' notice.
The respondent demonstrated that the claimant completed his piece-rate work, executed a clearance form dated October 14, 2016 and was paid. The claimant did not dispute this. However, no 28 days' notice or payment in lieu was demonstrated, making the severance of the engagement procedurally unfair under section 18(1)(b) read with section 35(1)(c).
Whether the claimant is entitled to the reliefs sought
Notice pay and compensation for unfair termination awarded; severance and leave claims declined.
Having found procedural unfairness, the court awarded one month's salary in lieu of notice (accepting the pleaded Ksh.10,800 since neither party addressed the minimum wage) and six months' salary as compensation. Severance pay failed because there was no redundancy, and the leave claim failed because a piece-rate worker is not entitled to accumulated leave.
Legal principles established
#- A piece-rate worker is entitled to 28 days' notice of termination under section 18(1)(b) as read with section 35(1)(c) of the Employment Act, or payment in lieu; failure renders the termination procedurally unfair.
- Where an employee alleges unfair termination, the evidential burden shifts to the employer to prove valid reason and fair procedure under section 45.
Court orders
#- 1.One month salary in lieu of notice of Ksh.10,800
- 2.Six months' salary (Ksh.10,800 x 6 = Ksh.64,800) as compensation for unfair termination
- 3.Total award of Ksh.75,600, subject to statutory deductions pursuant to section 49(2) of the Employment Act
- 4.Costs of the suit and interest to the claimant
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original jurisdiction under the Employment Act 2007
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.
- Emodo v Sheer Logic Management Consultants (Cause E149 of 2021) [2025] KEELRC 2412 (KLR)[2025] KEELRC 2412 (KLR)4 Sept 2025
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Owuor v Rea Vipingo Plantations Ltd (Cause 529 of 2018) [2022] KEELRC 1452 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2022). Statement of claim dated June 29, 2017, filed June 30, 2017. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2022/1452/eng@2022-06-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.