COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT (CBA) YEAR 2021-2024

asi.AOO ASI 3.REGISTRO UFFICIALE.Int.0013403.23-11-2021

AGREEMENT BETWEEN ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY (ASI) (P.O. Box 450 - 80200, Malindi) WITH GRASI S.C.AR.L BRANCH OF KENYA (P.O. Box 1050 - 80200, Malindi) (hereinafter referred to as the "ORGANIZATION/EMPLOYER" of the First Part) AND UNION OF NATIONAL RESEARCH AND ALLIED INSTITUTES STAFF OF KENYA (UNRISK) OF P.O. BOX 27723 - 00506, NAIROBI (hereinafter referred to as the “UNION" of the Second Part). IN THE MATTERS OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

PREAMBLE:

The Italian Space Agency was appointed by the Italian Government to manage The San Marco Project activities (hereinafter referred to as "the Project”) based on the Luigi Broglio Space Centre in Malindi as per the Agreement between the Kenyan and the Italian Government.

Whereas by terms of recognition and negotiation procedure agreement signed between the two parties, it was agreed that the Organization recognizes the Union as the sole Trade Union representing the interest of the San Marco Project employees.

The Organization and the Union meeting together in free heart and voluntary association have agreed and entered into this agreement in the matters of wages and other terms and conditions of employment negotiated between them at their joint negotiating committee.

The employer shall draw the attention of this agreement to all sub-contractors, labor contractors/agents who may not be party to this agreement and ensure that they adhere, and observe fair labor practices in the sites and guard against underpayment contrary to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

At present, GRASI SCARL Kenya is the employer of the majority of employees on behalf of ASI, which remains, however, the guarantor of all labor relations, as the only interface with the Government of Kenya. All employees of the San Marco Project -BSC in Malindi at the end of the term of the contract between ASI and GRASI SCARL Kenya will come back again, without interruption, as set forth in individual letters of employment of the employees themselves.

2.INTEPRETATION:

1.All clauses, paragraphs, appendix and parts, as contained in the Agreement, shall be taken to mean as they read. In the event of any dispute on interpretation of any paragraph, clause or part, an "Ad Hoc" Committee composed of at least two 

representatives from employer's side (to be appointed by the employer) and three representatives from Union’s side (to be appointed by the Union) shall be requested to interpret the paragraph, clause or part in dispute, within a period of at least 10 days.

2.The decision of the committee so appointed as provided above, shall be communicated to both parties in writing by the Secretary to be appointed by the Ad Hoc interpretation Committee from amongst its members. In the event of failure to reach an agreement at this level, both parties shall refer the dispute to the Ministry of Labour in accordance to the provisions of the Labour Relations Act, 2007.

3.BASIC MINIMUM MONTHLY RATE (EXCLUSIVE OF HOUSING ALLOWANCE):

1.The basic minimum wage to be paid to an employee shall not be less favorable than specified in relation to the employee's category in the hereinafter attached Appendix on the wages schedule.

2.Any employee taken by the Organization to another area shall not be paid less wages than that applicable to his/her category.

4.HOUSING ALLOWANCE:

Employees who are not provided with reasonable free housing accommodation by the Organization shall be entitled, in addition to their wages to a housing allowance at a rate of 20% of their basic wages or to basic housing allowance of Kshs. 5,800/= whichever is greater.

NOTE:

For the purpose of calculating housing allowance for employees who are employed for a period of less than one month. The daily rate of housing allowance is calculated by dividing the monthly salary of the employee by 30 and multiplying by 20% or dividing Kshs. 5,800/= per 30 days whichever is greater. 

1.The normal working week shall consist of forty-five hours of work at the rate of eight hours of work per day from Monday to Friday inclusive, and five hours on Saturday, or five shifts of nine hours each, should operation necessitate work on Saturday, it shall be considered as a working day. Provided that:

a)In the case of a watchman the normal hours of work per week shall be fifty-two hours, normally consisting of six shift per week;

b)In the event of inclement weather conditions, the employer may prevent or stop any employee from working for any time during the normal hours of work per day and the employees shall, if he/she has reported for duty and remains available for work during such time being deemed to have worked full time at his/her normal rate of wages per day, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed so as to prevent an employee from reporting for duty each morning.

2.For the purpose of subparagraph 1, any employer who prevents or stops his employees from reporting for work to any period of time due to inclement weather conditions shall treat such employees as having reported for duty and pay them as stipulated in that subparagraph.

3.Except as provided in subparagraph 2 and without prejudice to any contract of service being terminable by either party no contract of service shall be for less than the normal hours of work per week or in the case of an employee engaged after the start of the week, for less than the normal hours of work per day on each of the remaining days of the week, and any employee who is forced by his/her employer to work less than normal hours of work per day shall be paid at a rate not less than the employee’s daily rate wages.

4.An employee who is stopped from working by his employer for any period of time for any reason other than termination of employment, dismissal or inclement weather conditions, shall be entitled to his/her full rate of wages per hour or per day, as the case may be.

5.However, contingency of duty may require an employee to put in extra hours as applicable.

7.HOLIDAYS WITH FULL PAY:

The following days and all gazetted public holidays shall be with full pay:

1.New Year’s Day (1st of January)

2.Easter Monday

3.Madaraka day (1st of June)

4.Idd-Ul-Fitr Day

5.Good Friday

6.Christmas Day (25th of December)7.Labour Day (1st of May)

8.Huduma Day (10th October)

9.Heroes day (20th October - Mashujaa)

10.Independence Day (12th of December)

11.Utamaduni Day (26th of December)

12.Any Other Public Holiday declared by the Government

9.SICK LEAVE

When an employee is absent from work due to illness or other physical incapacity, he/she shall be paid by the organization at his/her normal rate of wages provided that:

a)Employees shall not be entitled to such payment unless they produce to the Organization a certificate of incapacity covering the period of absence signed by a qualified medical practitioner or by a person authorized by him in writing and acting on his behalf in charge of a dispensary or medical aid centre.

b)When an employee who is in receipt of a housing allowance in accordance with article 4 of this agreement is absent from work due to illness or any other physical incapacity, the organization shall continue to pay him/her the housing allowance in full.

c)For the purpose of payment for sick leave, an employee shall only be entitled to sick leave for a period of 90 days with full pay and 90 days with half pay during any period of one calendar year.

1.A female employee shall be entitled to three months maternity leave with full pay.

2.A female employee who takes maternity leave shall not incur any loss of privileges during such period including her annual leave.

11.MEDICAL:

1.An employee who falls sick and requires medical treatment shall be entitled to reimbursement of the expenses incurred in respect of such medical treatment up to Kshs. 50,000/= in a period of 12 months on production of receipts issued by registered medical practitioner.

3.All employees shall be eligible to comprehensive medical cover.

12.TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT:

1.The first weeks of employment with the employer may be treated as a probationary period and during such period the contract may be terminated by not less than one week notice to be given by either party or one week in lieu of notice, such notice to expire at the end of the normal hours of work on any day, provided that:

a)In the case of an employee who has completed two weeks but less than two months of continuous service with the employer, the employment shall be terminable by not less than fifteen days’ notice in writing to be given by either party or otherwise by the payments by either party in lieu of notice of not less than fifteen days monthly wages.

b)In case of an employee who has completed two months but less than three years of continuous service with an employer, the contract shall be terminable by not less than one month’s notice in writing to be given by either party or otherwise by the payment by either party in lieu of notice of not less than one month’s wages.

c)In the case of an employee who has completed three years of service with an employer, the contract shall be terminable by not less than two months’ notice in writing to be given by either party or otherwise by the payment by either party in lieu of notice of not less than two month's wages.

d)In the case of an employee's service being terminated at the initiative of the employer after completion of two years of continuous service, such employee shall be entitled to payment at the rate of thirty (30) days salary for every completed year of service by way of gratuity to be based on the employee’s wages at the time of termination of his service.

2.Nothing in this article shall prejudice the right of either party to terminate a contract summarily for any lawful cause.

13.PROTECTIVE CLOTHING:

1.The employer shall provide protective clothing, uniform and other necessary equipment to his employees as specified here below and such protective clothing and uniform shall be maintained and cleaned by the employer who may opt to provide a bar of washing soap or its equivalent in a month to each employee using such protective clothing and uniform.

a)Watchman shall be issued with uniform, torch, whistle and heavy overcoat;

b)Light overalls shall be issued to painters, mechanics, assistant mechanics, boilermen, welders, drillers and sanitary sweepers, greasers in motor workshops, carpenters and masons in established workshops;

c)Light over jackets shall be issued to store-keepers and laboratory staff;

d)Uniforms shall be issued to messengers and drivers;

e)Gumboots shall be issued to terrazzo paviours, sanitary sweepers, asphalters and concrete block makers;

f)Motorcycle drivers will be issued with uniforms and will also be given raincoats, hand gloves and helmets;

2.The above items shall be replaced as and when the issues are inadequate for the purpose for which they were intended.

14.SAFARI ALLOWANCE:

1.An employee who is required to perform work away from his principal area of employment shall be entitled to be paid subsistence and accommodation allowance as follows:

a)Meals allowance when an employee goes on a Safari for a day without overnight stay Kshs. 1,400/=;

b)For an overnight stop in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu an employee shall be entitled to accommodation allowance of Kshs. 3,000/=;

c)For an overnight stop when the employer provides accommodation, the rate will be equivalent to a total amount of Kshs. 1,400/= as above and as may be applicable.

2.The subsistence and accommodation allowance payable under subparagraph (1) of this article shall cease to be payable to an employee after thirty consecutive days of absence on duty from his principal area of employment and thereafter an agreement in respect of additional accommodation and subsistence allowance shall be negotiated between the employer and the employee(s) or employees representative.

3.Traveling outside the country will be separately addressed through a Management Communication.

15.REDUNDANCY:

1.It shall be a condition of every contract that, where the employment of an employee is to be terminated on account of redundancy the following principals shall apply:

a)The Union of which the employee is a member shall be engaged in discussion of the reason for and the extent of the intended redundancy at least seven days prior of the issue of notice;

b)The employer shall have due regard to the seniority in time, ability and reliability of each employee belonging to the particular category of employees affected by the redundancy;

e)Any redundant employee with less than four years continuous service with any employer shall be entitled to one month’s notice in writing or one month's wage in lieu of notice;

f)An employee with four or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to two month’s notice in writing or to the wage of a two month's in lieu of notice;

g)An employee declared redundant shall be entitled to one way travelling allowance to his/her home area. The allowance will have a minimum of value of Kshs. 5,500/= and a capping at Kshs. 13,500/= according to the distance between the place of work and his/her home area.

2.For the purpose of this article:

a)"redundancy" shall mean the termination of employment by an employer before work is completed on the section of which an employee was engaged;

b)Loss of employment caused by closure or sale of an undertaking or part of the undertaking or any other cause through no fault of the employee shall be deemed to be redundancy.

17.WARNING SYSTEM:

1.An employee whose work or conduct is unsatisfactory or commits a default which does not warrant summary dismissal shall be warned in writing and the following procedure shall apply:

a)The first, second and third warnings shall be entered in the employee’s employment record and copies of the warnings shall be forwarded to the shopsteward and such warnings shall be valid for twelve months from the date of their issue;

b)If within the period of twelve months referred to in above article, the employee commits a further default which does not warrant instant dismissal for any other default, a final warning shall be issued and a copy of that final warning shall be forwarded to the Branch Secretary of the Union.

2.If the employee completes twelve months from the date of the issue of the first, second, third and final warning without committing a further default, any warning entered in his/her employment records shall be cancelled and cease to be valid.

1.After each period of 12 months of consecutive service with an employer, an employee shall be entitled to annual leave for a period covering 29 working days with full pay and such leave may be taken at any time during the ensuing 12 months;

2.Where employment is terminated before the completion of any twelve (12) months annual-earning leave period, the employee shall be entitled to two and a half days of leave with full pay for each month of service completed since the start of such leave earning period;

3.Any pro-rata leave earned within a period of twelve months at the time of termination of service shall be paid in cash;

4.For the purpose of this article, Saturdays shall be regarded as any other working day

19.2.LEAVE TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE

An employee who is taking annual leave shall be paid travelling allowance of Kshs. 9,100/=.

21.RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS:

An employee deciding to take time off for religious purposes may be granted such time off without pay, or alternatively, such employees shall have the option of having the

number of days taken for religious purposes set off against his annual leave entitlement.

NOTE:

For the purpose of this clause, an employee shall be deemed to be a member of one religion only.

22.ACTING ALLOWANCE:

Where an employee is required to work in a full acting capacity for a period not less than one month in an occupation or grade for which the minimum wage prescribed in this agreement is higher than the minimum wage normally earned by an employee, he/she shall be paid acting allowance at a rate not less than the difference between such higher rate and his/her normal wage rate.

23.SAFETY AND HEALTH:

The Organization will make every reasonable effort to provide safe and healthful conditions of work for employees at all job sites and workshops and will provide employees with any necessary protective equipment, tool and such equipment issued to the employees must be returned to the employer anytime they are required.

24.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE:

Every employee shall be given certificate of service by the Organization upon termination of his/her employment unless such employment has continued for a period of not less than four consecutive weeks. Every certificate of service shall contain: a) Name of the employer and his postal address b) Name of the employee

c)Date when the employment commenced

d)Nature and usual place of employment

e)Date when the employment ceased

f)Any other particular may be prescribed 

25.LETTER OF APPOINTMENT:

Each employee shall be issued with a letter of appointment by the Organization. Such letter shall indicate the following:

a)Name and address of the employer

b)Name of the employee

c)Date of engagement

d)Nature of work occupation.

26.PAYMENT OF WAGES:

1.Payment of wages shall be made on a working day during working hours and at the place of employment.

2.The method or mode of payment of wages shall in no way prejudice the right of an employee to enjoy any or all the fringe benefits stipulated in this Agreement, for this purpose and no matter how an employee is employed or paid, such an employee shall be entitled to all benefits earned by him.

3.Where an employer pay wages outside working hours, the time spent in paying wages shall be regarded and paid for as overtime in accordance with overtime clause of this Agreement.

27.ABSENCE FROM DUTY:

No employee shall suffer dismissal termination of employment on grounds of absence from duty that such absence does not exceed seven (7) continuous working days and provided further that the employee has sufficient and convincing reasons for the absence and no payment shall be due to the employee during the period of such absence.

30.DURATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT:

1.This agreement shall be effective from 1st January 2021 - 31st December 2024 and shall remain in force for a period of (4 years) 48 months from the effective date.

2.Thereafter the Agreement shall remain in force. Any revision is subject to either party giving the other party two months in advance a notice of intention to revise, amend or add new clause giving details of revisions, additions or amendments desired.

31.GRADINGS:

a)All employees of the Organization shall be paid salaries/wages commensurate and not less than their academic, professional qualifications recognized by the employer at the time of employment for a job requiring those specific qualifications;

b)Merit and experience shall also be considered alongside academic qualifications;

d)Any career advancement will be considered at the discretion of the management in consultation with the shop steward committee upon available openings.

32.SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY ALLOWANCE:

A special responsibility allowance for the following staff at the rates indicated here below:

a)COXWAIN Kshs. 4,500/= per month;

b)DISPENSARY Kshs. 7,000/= per month; Z-W

34.SHIFT AT PLATFORM:

When on a 24 hours/7 days shift, the employees will be entitled to an additional amount as here specified:

a)A daily fixed amount of Kshs. 1,650/= from Monday to Saturday;

b)A fixed amount of Kshs. 2,200/= on Sundays and Public holidays;

36.JOB EVALUATION:

The parties will carry out job evaluation exercise jointly during the life of this agreement.

37.COMMUTER ALLOWANCE

The parties agreed to discuss this issue at the Labour Office.

Appendix on the wages schedule

The wages schedule will be determined by the percentage increase.

G1 ARTISANS

 2 CLERICAL/ADMINISTRATION

G3 VEHICLE OPERATORS

G4 SECURITY

G5 DISPENSARY

G6 KITCHEN/CANTEEN

G7 HOUSEKEEPING/GARDENING

 G8 MARINE

G9 FIREMAN

G10 LAUNDRY