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
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the trial Court erred in finding that the Appellant was engaged on need basis by the Respondent
- 2.Whether the trial court erred in not awarding the terminal dues claimed by the Appellant
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
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- 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)
Relief refused
#Setting aside of the trial court's judgment and decree
The appeal was found to be without merit
Terminal dues and compensation of Kshs 86,012 (salary for May, June and two weeks of July 2021, airtime for June and July 2021, pro-rata leave, certificate of service)
The Appellant failed to prove employment other than on need/piece-rate basis
Costs
Appeal dismissed with costs (costs to the Respondent)
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
In conclusion the appeal is found without merit and is hereby dismissed with costs.
The court therefore agrees with the trial court finding that the Appellant was only engaged on need basis.
It is a general rule that a pay slip is issued to an employee after payment hence the same could only be manufactured to suit the Appellant's case
The Appellant was therefore engaged on piece rate or need basis employment with the Respondent.
Issues in the judgment
#The judgment does not state the appeal case number, making the case number field uncertain
The trial court's costs order as recorded in the judgment (each party bearing own costs) appears inconsistent with the appellate costs order of 'dismissed with costs'
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.