Court Cancels Order Requiring JSS Teachers to Pay KUPPET Agency Fees

Kenya’s Employment and Labour Relations Court set aside interim directives requiring the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to deduct agency fees from junior secondary school teachers and remit them to KUPPET. In a ruling on October 29, Justice Monica Mbaru said KUPPET’s original petition had been withdrawn and there was no sufficient cause to reopen the case, following an application by KNUT. KUPPET had sought deductions of 1.8 per cent of the affected teachers’ basic salaries, citing its post-primary education mandate and collective bargaining agreement. The judge affirmed that teachers transferred from primary schools to junior secondary schools retain their constitutional right to join a union of their choice.