Barclays Bank Kenya Sued By Sacked Managers.

Barclays Bank of Kenya will part with Sh300 million if a case filed by senior managers it retrenched early this year succeeds.

The 105 former employees are questioning the computing of their exit packages. The claimants had worked for the bank for between 17 and 33 years.

In the suit filed by lawyer Titus Koceyo, the aggrieved former staff are asking the Industrial Court to compel the bank to adhere to the law and signed contracts in calculating their dues.

Mr Koceyo says the claimants were declared redundant under the “organisational restructuring” carried out globally by the bank.

“The claimants were entitled to terminal dues in accordance with the Employment Act, 2007 and the individual employment contracts,” Mr Koceyo says in the court papers.

The lawyer states that his clients lost their jobs “involuntarily through no fault of their own. Their employer initiated the move.”

The claimants say the bank did not pay the correct amounts due to them as a “result of fraudulent misrepresentation, concealment and or non-disclosure of material facts.”

The bank did not inform its former senior managers that the amount paid to them comprised one and a half months salary for each year worked up to a maximum of 16 years worked (equivalent to a maximum of 24 months).

Barclays, Mr Koceyo says, discriminated against its former employees by failing to pay them for each completed year.

He says bankers laid off in Zambia were paid 2.5 months salary for each year served.

The bank’s managing director informed the employees about the restructuring through a circular on December 24.

The claimants received the letters terminating their services on January 18. They are also asking the court to compel the bank to pay them full earned leave allowance.

They are seeking special damages to the tune of Sh301,855,477.00 plus interest at the court rate besides the costs of the suit.

The Registrar of the Industrial Court has given the bank 14 days to enter appearance and respond to the issues or else a judgement will be entered.

To Receive daily jobs In Kenya in your inbox,please subscribe here below. This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 at 6:42 PM and is filed under BANK, JOB NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.