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Section 49 of Employment Act CAP 226: Remedies for wrongful dismissal and unfair termination

    

(1) Where in the opinion of a labour officer summary dismissal or termination of a contract of an employee is unjustified, the labour officer may recommend to the employer to pay to the employee any or all of the following—
(a) the wages which the employee would have earned had the
employee been given the period of notice to which he was entitled under this Act or his contract of service;
(b) where dismissal terminates the contract before the completion of any service upon which the employee’s wages became due, the proportion of the wage due for the period of time for which the employee has worked; and any other loss consequent upon the dismissal and arising between the date of dismissal and the date of expiry of the period of notice referred to in paragraph (a) which the employee would have been entitled to by virtue of the contract; or
(c) the equivalent of a number of months wages or salary not exceeding twelve months based on the gross monthly wage or salary of the employee at the time of dismissal.
(2) Any payments made by the employer under this section shall be subject to statutory deductions.
(3) Where in the opinion of a labour officer an employee’s summary dismissal or termination of employment was unfair, the labour officer may recommend to the employer to—
(a) reinstate the employee and treat the employee in all respects as if the employee’s employment had not been terminated; or
(b) re-engage the employee in work comparable to that in which the employee was employed prior to his dismissal, or other reasonably suitable work, at the same wage.
(4) A labour officer shall, in deciding whether to recommend the remedies specified in subsections (1) and (3), take into account any or all of the following—
(a) the wishes of the employee;
(b) the circumstances in which the termination took place, including the extent, if any, to which the employee caused or contributed to the termination; and
(c) the practicability of recommending reinstatement or re-engagement;
(d) the common law principle that there should be no order for specific
performance in a contract for service except in very exceptional circumstances;
(e) the employee’s length of service with the employer;
(f) the reasonable expectation of the employee as to the length of time
for which his employment with that employer might have continued but for the termination;
(g) the opportunities available to the employee for securing comparable or suitable employment with another employer;
(h) the value of any severance payable by law;
(i) the right to press claims or any unpaid wages, expenses or other claims owing to the employee;
(j) any expenses reasonably incurred by the employee as a consequence of the termination;
(k) any conduct of the employee which to any extent caused or contributed to the termination;
(l) any failure by the employee to reasonably mitigate the losses
attributable to the unjustified termination; and
(m) any compensation, including ex gratia payment, in respect of termination of employment paid by the employer and received by the employee.

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Disclaimer: This document is not to be taken as legal advise.

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