The Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) has stopped Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) from conducting any Job Evaluation without involving Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers or their representatives.
This is after the teachers through their union, the Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers (KUNOPPET) moved to court through Petition Number E100 of 2023 to challenge SRC for conducting Job Evaluation for the public officers in the country unilaterally, whose judgement was rendered on June 20, 2024 in favour of KUNOPPET.
In the judgment rendered by Judge Anna Ngibuini Mwaure, the Court determined that SRC is bound by the rule of law which demands that any public body is under obligation to include members of the public whenever such bodies are called upon to formulate public policy decisions which are likely to affect the public in any way.
The Court therefore permanently prohibited SRC from carrying out Job Evaluation in a manner which excludes ECDE teachers by themselves or through their trade union. In the same Judgment, court declared the decision of SRC communicated vide circular dated December 10, 2021 by which SRC set the salaries of ECDE teachers as unconstitutional, null and void and therefore stands quashed.
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Also, court declared that the directive by SRC vide letter dated January 13, 2023 to all county governors to inter alia, review their respective schemes of Service for ECDE teachers and align them to SRC job evaluation grading be and is hereby quashed in its entirety.
Finally, the court declared that any Job Evaluation and or salary review conducted by the Commission without involvement of ECDE teachers either by themselves or through their authorized representatives is unconstitutional, null and void.
Speaking to Education News in a recent interview, the union Secretary General Samuel Opiyo noted that the judgment is a milestone achievement and a ray of hope not only for ECDE teachers in the country, but also for all public servants.
“This is a celebrated decision which will ensure that KUNOPPET is involved in the Job Evaluation processes by SRC and in making any salary adjustments affecting the ECDE teachers in the country,” said Opiyo.
By Roy Hezron
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