Bosire v Thermosystems East Africa Limited (Appeal E077 of 2023) [2025] KEELRC 712 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court upheld that a worker engaged only during university holidays was a piece-rate worker, not an employee entitled to terminal dues.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Nature of the engagement: employee or engaged on need/piece-rate basis
The Appellant was engaged on need basis/piece-rate work during his university holidays; the trial court's finding was correct
The Appellant worked only during his university holidays between April and July 2021, and the Respondent produced cheque payments made for specific assignments. The alleged job card was in fact a business card, and the June 2021 pay slip was not proved authentic: the Respondent denied its issuer, the issuer was not called as a witness, and it was curious that a pay slip was issued without payment. The NSSF statement ended in 2019 and showed no remittances by the Respondent for the relevant months. The court accordingly affirmed the trial court's finding of need-basis engagement.
Entitlement to terminal dues pleaded (salaries, airtime, pro-rata leave, certificate of service)
The claims failed because the employer-employee relationship beyond need-basis engagement was not proved on a balance of probabilities
Having found that the Appellant was engaged on need basis, the court held that the terminal dues claims, premised on continuous employment at Kshs 30,000 per month, could not stand. The Appellant's own documents (an NSSF statement ending in 2019 and an unauthenticated pay slip) did not establish continuous employment or non-payment for the months claimed. The trial court's dismissal of the claim, with each party bearing its own costs, was therefore not disturbed.
Legal principles established
#- A pay slip is generally issued to an employee after payment; an unproved pay slip for unpaid wages may be treated as manufactured
- The Court on appeal must reconsider the evidence, evaluate it itself and draw its own conclusions while making due allowance for not having seen or heard the witnesses
Court orders
#- 1.Appeal dismissed
- 2.Costs awarded to the Respondent
- On appeal from
- Chief Magistrate's Court, Nairobi
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appeal from the Chief Magistrate's Court to the Employment and Labour Relations Court (memorandum of appeal dated 26th May 2023)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Bosire v Thermosystems East Africa Limited (Appeal E077 of 2023) [2025] KEELRC 712 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). ELRC Appeal (Nairobi) – Memorandum of Appeal dated 26th May 2023. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/712/eng@2025-03-07
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.