Ondieki v Nyangena Hospital Ltd (Appeal 032 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1280 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan court confirmed that employees who sign fixed term contracts are bound by them, and expired contracts end lawfully without notice or compensation.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Duress/coercion in signing the fixed term contract
The appellant failed to plead or prove duress; the alleged threat to withhold salary does not amount to duress in law and the claim could not be raised after serving the contract term
The alleged coercion surfaced only in cross-examination, was absent from the witness statement made 15 months earlier, and the appellant attended a sensitisation meeting and signed the contract voluntarily. The threat to withhold salary is not duress, and the doctrine of estoppel by conduct barred the appellant from raising it after serving the full contract term.
Concurrent oral and written contracts
The issue was unpleaded; in any event the oral contract merged with and was discharged by the written contract signed on 1st November 2020
Parties are bound by their pleadings and courts cannot pronounce on unpleaded issues. On the merits, the oral contract merged into the written contract upon signing, leaving only one contract of employment dated 1st November 2020 effective 2008. The trial magistrate could not be faulted for not determining an unpleaded issue with no supporting evidence.
Unilateral alteration of employment terms
No unilateral variation was established; the respondent consulted the appellant and the appellant's signing and remaining at work amounted to express and implied acceptance
Section 10(5) of the Employment Act permits revision of a contract in consultation with the employee. The appellant attended and signed the attendance sheet of a sensitisation meeting on 13th October 2020 and later signed the contract. Consent to variation may be express or implied from conduct. The verbal allegations of coercion lacked probative value.
Whether termination was unfair or unlawful
The employment ended by effluxion of time of the one-year fixed term contract, not by unfair or unlawful termination
Fixed term contracts carry no expectancy of renewal and terminate automatically on the expiry date without notice, unless the contract itself creates such obligation. The appellant's one-year contract lapsed on 31st October 2021 after notice of non-renewal, terminating the employment relationship lawfully.
Entitlement to reliefs
None of the claimed reliefs was proved: service pay is barred by NSSF membership, no notice was required, and the overtime, public holiday, rest day, leave, NSSF and compensation claims lacked evidential support
The appellant bore the burden of proof under Sections 107, 108 and 109 of the Evidence Act but produced no evidence for the specific claims. Section 35(5)/(6)(d) of the Employment Act bars service pay for NSSF members. Leave forms showed leave taken or compensated. The compensation claim fell away as there was no unfair termination.
Legal principles established
#- At common law a signature prima facie denotes acceptance and binds the signatory unless misrepresentation, mistake, duress or undue influence is proved
- An employee's consent to variation of contract terms may be implied from conduct, including remaining in employment after revised terms are operationalised
- A fixed term contract terminates by effluxion of time without any obligation on the employer to justify termination or give notice unless the contract itself so provides
- Issues for determination in a case emanate from the pleadings and parties are bound by their pleadings
- Submissions do not constitute evidence
- A first appellate court must reconsider and re-evaluate the evidence afresh and draw its own conclusions
Court orders
#- 1.The appellant's appeal is dismissed
- 2.Parties shall bear their own costs of the appeal
- On appeal from
- Trial court (magistrates' court, employment dispute)
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appellate jurisdiction over the trial court's judgment in an employment claim
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Ondieki v Nyangena Hospital Ltd (Appeal 032 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1280 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/1280/eng@2025-05-05
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.