Nigerian owned Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank is embroiled in a row with its staff over an employment policy introduced by new managing director Olabayo Veracruz that has affected 60 employees.

Workers through their union have moved to court seeking orders to reverse the decision by the bank to vary terms of employment, where an external human resource firm seconds them to work in the bank.

The Banking Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU) filed a case Thursday under certificate of urgency, accusing GT Bank of violating labour rules by denying its staff employment benefits.

“The bank has adopted an unorthodox method of smuggling strangers from external companies (such as) Career Directions to do the same roles which are supposed to be performed by unionisable employees of  GT Bank,” an affidavit signed by BIFU national organising secretary Tom Odero states.

External companies

BIFU says the scheme to have staff seconded by a HR firm is meant to deny bank employees their negotiated terms of employment under the Comprehensive Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the union and the bank.

“The workers who are brought in from external companies work side by side with the bank employees who carry out the same function,” said Mr Odero.

“The employees from Career Directions are not allowed to join the union and have no other employment benefits apart from the meagre salaries; which salaries are far below the stipulated scales in the CBA.”

According to the affidavit, some of the benefits taken away from the outsourced employees include house allowance, overtime pay, loans or advance at preferential interest rates for bankers and pension.

The staff who are employed under contract earn a salary of Sh40,000 against the Sh73,000 provided under the CBA for unionisable staff - being a salary of Sh63,000 and Sh10,000 house allowance.

“This is the highest degree of discrimination and selective treatment which is contrary to Section 5 of the Employment Act, 2007,” says BIFU deputy secretary general Joseph ole Tipape,” in the affidavit commissioned by J A Guserwa Advocates

The case which has been certified as urgent at the Employment and Labour Relations Court is set to be heard on March 19.

The union wants the labour court to compel GT Bank to offer the 60 staff terms in accordance to the CBA, saying that by 2014, the bank had 70 employees who subscribed to BIFU, but the number has now reduced to just 10.

“The number of unionisable employees has reduced to a mere 10 due to replacement of workers from external employment merchants. The practice of smuggling is both irregular and unlawful,” Tipape adds.

The suit comes just three months after BIFU wrote to GT Bank protesting that Mr Olabayo, who took over in September last year, was harassing staff, prompting some of them to resign.

The GT Bank boss confirmed on Friday that he been served with the suit papers, saying the bank was holding talks with the union to handle the dispute.

“There is a dispute between the bank and unionisable employees and it is being discussed. We are in talks with BIFU,” he said.

Staff turnover was 43 per cent in 2018, which was among the highest in the banking industry.

Among senior employees who have left following the arrival of Mr Olabayo include head of corporate, head of personal banking, head of commercial banking, head of IT and his deputy.

Others were respective head of cards, operations, credit risk and compliance sections - more than half of the management team.

In December last year, Mr Odero wrote a protest letter to the bank complaining that Mr Olabayo was harassing staff, including senior managers by banning them from carrying phones to his meetings.