Salary reprieve for assembly clerks

The Labour Court has revoked decision by Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to lower income and job groups of the 47 clerks of county assemblies.

Justice Nzioki wa Makau also permanently stopped SRC from implementing job evaluation report on the clerks as he declared the move unlawful and discriminatory.

“The constitutional license the SRC enjoys is not one to act wantonly and where there is breach of the principles and the law, courts will not hesitate to step in and correct the error. That is not by means usurping the constitutional mandate of the SRC,” said Justice Makau while sitting in Nyeri law courts Monday.

He found that the commission evaluated the clerks’ jobs in 2016 without involving them and later made a report and recommendations to the government.

The report dubbed ‘Job Evaluation Results for the Public Sector’ was conducted in an effort to harmonise salaries for public workers.

“The county government structure is a microsm of the national government. The county assembly in character mirror the National Assembly. The clerk of the county assembly is not a middle level management but in the band of senior specialists and top executives,” ruled the judge.

He explained that the clerks fit in Job Group E and not D where they were put by SRC.

He added that they are the chief executive officers of the county assemblies and therefore they cannot be deemed to be in a subordinate position.

The court heard that the commission reduced the clerks job categories to subordinate positions and classified them into a group that does not commensurate with their roles.

On its part, the commission told the judge that the clerks  gave their input which led to the job evaluation made.