Nairobi — The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Telkom Kenya, ruling in favor of unionisable employees who had been subjected to discriminatory bonus payments by their employer.

The appellate court, in its ruling, found that the telco had violated the terms of its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the Human Resources Policy Manual.

The dispute centered around the employer's refusal to pay unionisable employees the same bonuses as their non-unionisable counterparts.

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While the non-unionisable employees received 47.5% of their basic salary as a bonus, unionisable workers were offered a flat rate ofSh. 2,000--an offer deemed arbitrary and discriminatory by the court.

The decision also highlighted how the appellant had attempted to coerce unionisable employees to resign from their union membership by offering higher bonuses to non-members.

"The differentiation between unionisable and non-unionisable members in the payment of bonuses was unjustified, amounting to impermissible discrimination," the Court stated in its ruling.

It emphasized that once the parties agreed upon the terms in the CBA, the employer's discretion to pay bonuses was no longer applicable.

The court found that the employer's conduct--paying unionisable employees less or offering them a flat-rate bonus while non-unionisable employees received a higher percentage--constituted a violation of this provision.

However, the Court of Appeal raised concerns about the trial court's final order, which delegated the task of calculating the bonus quantum to the respondent.

The court emphasized that the responsibility of determining and declaring entitlements should remain with the court.

Consequently, the case was remitted back to the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) for a hearing on the quantum of bonuses, with both parties being heard.

CoA affirmed that the employer must compensate the unionisable employees according to the terms of the Human Resources Policy Manual, ensuring a uniform bonus payment for all eligible employees.

It also ruled that both parties should bear their own costs, given the ongoing employer-employee relationship.