A Kenyan Employment and Labour Relations Courtroom has ordered neobank Umba to pay KES 2.88 million ($21,600) in damages and authorized prices for unfairly terminating certainly one of its executives, underscoring authorized expectations for startups navigating employment legal guidelines within the East African nation.
The March 28 ruling discovered that Umba— which operates in Kenya and Nigeria—violated due course of when it terminated the worker’s contract in January 2023 throughout her six-month probation interval. The worker, who served as the corporate’s head of progress, was dismissed after only a few months within the position, allegedly for poor efficiency and lack of ability to satisfy targets.
Based on courtroom paperwork seen by TechCabal, the previous head of progress claimed that no clear targets have been set and that her efficiency was not formally evaluated. The ex-employee additionally claimed she was dismissed by way of a WhatsApp name from the corporate’s CFO and not using a formal assembly or written discover.
Umba, by way of its attorneys, argued that it knowledgeable the ex-employee of her efficiency expectations and held a number of conferences to assist her perceive her job, together with a December 20, 2022, assembly with the CFO. The corporate added that her termination resulted from efficiency points and knowledgeable her of the meant termination.
Nevertheless, the courtroom decided that Umba failed to offer ample documentation to justify the dismissal and didn’t permit the previous worker to reply to the allegations—an omission that rendered the termination illegal, regardless that she was on probation.
“The Respondent has not proved that it performed a efficiency analysis in opposition to the Claimant’s targets over a specified time period previous to concluding that her efficiency was not as per its expectations, therefore rendering her unfit for the corporate,” stated Decide Stella Rutto, who presided over the case.
The $21,600 compensation covers the equal of the previous government’s three months’ wage throughout her brief stint on the firm. The courtroom additionally ordered Umba to situation a Certificates of Service inside 30 days and to cowl all authorized prices.
Umba didn’t instantly reply to a request for feedback.
Below Kenya’s Employment Act, workers on probation are nonetheless entitled to truthful procedural remedy earlier than termination, together with being knowledgeable of efficiency issues and being given an opportunity to reply. The courtroom famous that probationary standing doesn’t exempt employers from these authorized obligations.
