Kisumu court orders employer to pay house help Ksh569K for unfair dismissal
By Zipporah Ngwatu, November 19, 2025A Court of Appeal in Kisumu has ordered an employer to pay Grace Misango over half a million for unfairly dismissing her, underpayment, leave denial, not remitting her NSSF deductions, and not providing house allowance.
According to court papers, Misango worked for Rahim Ibrahim for six years, starting March 2018 for Ksh4,000 a month until March 15, 2024, when her services were terminated without reason or notice.
After her employer terminated her services, Grace moved to the Kisumu Employment and Labour Relations Court, where she claimed to be paid Ksh1,265,381.81 for underpayment, house allowance, arrears, leave pay and gratuity, salary in lieu of notice, 12 months’ compensation, and a certificate of service.
In his defence, his former employer, Rahim, told the court that Grace was their house servant and worked from 9:00 am to 12:20 pm for the Ksh4,000 per month in cash or M-Pesa and vehemently denied having discriminated against her.
Rahim urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the complainant had been dismissed after she absconded from duty and did not return and thus terminated her employment.
However, the evidence on record revealed that Grace worked for Rahim from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and for his sister from 4:00 pm.
Replaced
She further told the court that she had not informed her employer that she was pregnant, but his boss’s wife, whom she worked under, confirmed that she was unwell on March 16, 2024, and went to the hospital, but did not work again thereafter, as she had been replaced.
Even though Rahim argued that he terminated his services for absconding duties, his wife testified that Grace was unwell and had proceeded to hospital, and neither of them attempted to call her even after she did not report to work.
On February 11, 2025, trial Magistrate F. M. Rashid found that Grace indeed worked for Rahim on a full-time basis and the termination of her employment was unfair, ordering the former employer to pay her Ksh 683,328.
Aggrieved by the judgement, Rahim moved to the Court of Appeal, faulting the lower court orders on the grounds that the learnt magistrate erred in law and fact.
Further, he argued that Grace was a casual employee and was not entitled to the reliefs she sought, adding that the court erred in awarding her Ksh 683,328.
“The trial court is faulted on grounds that it erred in law and fact by failing to note that the respondent (Grace) was a casual employee reporting to work once in a while for a few days in a month,” Rahim stated in his appeal.
On November 6, 2025, Court of Appeal Judge Jacob Gakeri set aside the award of gratuity in the earlier judgement by the lower court and instead ordered Rahim to pay Grace Ksh 569,717.
“The equivalent of four months’ gross salary is set aside and substituted with an award of two months’ Ksh34,963.80. Salary in lieu of notice Ksh 17,481.90, total award Ksh 569,717.48,” Justice Gakeri ordered.