County told to employ ESP health workers

Murang'a County ESP health workers celebrate with the chairman of the National Nurses Association of Kenya, Jeremiah Maina, after the Industrial court ordered the County Public Service Board to absorb them on permanent and pensionable terms. May 8, 2015. PHOTO: DENNIS MBAE/STANDARD]

The Murang’a County Public Service Board (CPSB) has been ordered to permanently absorb 177 health workers previously hired under the Economic Stimulus Program (ESP).

The workers, whose three-year contract expired May last year, had gone to court after CPSB failed to employ them on pensionable and permanent terms as agreed at the commencement of the contracts.

Giving the order, Industrial Court judge Byram Ongaya on Friday ruled that it would be unfair labour practice for the board or any other county government to treat ESP health workers differently by denying them permanent and pensionable terms of service.

"Some county governments have already absorbed into permanent and pensionable service some persons employed under the same terms and circumstances as the petitioners. It would be discriminatory to treat them differently," said Justice Ongaya.

He, therefore, directed the board to permanently retain the health workers, drawn from various cadres, with effect from the date when their respective initial three-year contractual terms of service lapsed.

Earlier, the workers had told the court that when their contracts expired, CPSB extended their contractual term by six months instead of permanently hiring them.

They submitted that during the 6-month period, CPSB directed them to submit their relevant academic and professional certificates to facilitate issuance of permanent appointment letters.

"Instead of receiving the letters of permanent employment, the petitioners were informed that their ESP contracts had been extended by a further seven months under the ESP prevailing terms of service," said their lawyer Emmanuel Awiti.

CPSB submitted that the contractual extension was informed by the fact that the remuneration for the workers as regular employees had not been budgeted for until July 1, 2015.

Initially, the board had objected to absorbing the workers since they had not, in its view, been appointed by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

It maintained that the absorption would be possible only if PSC regularised their appointments and the national government provided the requisite funds for permanent employment.

In a counter argument, PSC produced letters of appointment to demonstrate that it indeed appointed the health workers.