ASK HR: My employer wants to cheat us out of what is rightfully ours

Recently, our union pushed our employer to pay us backdated salary arrears owed us. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Your chief shop steward should engage management through the HR department because withdrawing benefits agreed upon during the CBA negotiation is totally unacceptable and can actually land your employer into trouble with the Labour Relation Court.

Q. Recently, our union pushed our employer to pay us backdated salary arrears owed us. Last month, our employer went back to paying us previous salary. This amounts to reduction of our salaries without notice or cause. What does the law say about this? The organisation also does not implement our salary increments as per the collective bargaining agreement. We fear going to the union since legal action will mar the company’s reputation, while going to HR may lead to victimisation.

 

Your employer must have signed a Recognition Agreement with the Union to allow employees to negotiate for their terms and conditions through the collective bargaining agreement. CBA is a legal document binding the employer and the employee, therefore, the employer has no option but to abide by it.

Once the agreement of the CBA is implemented, it is illegal to go back and pay the previous salary. In my knowledge, the CBA usually determines the percentage increment on the basic salary. Sometimes the allowances are based on percentage or flat rate, therefore if the agreement is percentage based, then this rate should be applied.

Your chief shop steward should engage management through the HR department because withdrawing benefits agreed upon during the CBA negotiation is totally unacceptable and can actually land your employer into trouble with the Labour Relation Court. If the meeting with HR is not successful, I would advise that you involve your external union representatives so that they can report a trade dispute to the Ministry of Labour through the relevant Cabinet Secretary. A Conciliator will be appointed to attempt and reconcile the employer and Union. The employer on the other hand, if a member of Federation of Kenya Employers, can also involve them to act as their representative in the tripartite discussions.

You should not fear victimisation from HR, since this is the right of employees to be represented by the relevant union, and when there are disputes, the same must be escalated to HR for resolving. In case of victimisation, you should also discuss the same during the tripartite meeting.

Remember though, that the percentage the employer awards is determined by the ability to pay, hence you must also be sensitive to the performance of your company. As the process continues, encourage your members to remain calm and continue working so that you can get the goodwill from management and also maintain industrial harmony.