Employment
Employment Act with Industrial Court adjudication and statutory severance
The Employment Act governs contracts, termination and severance, and the Trade Disputes Act channels disputes to mediation and then the Industrial Court, a specialist court with equity jurisdiction. Severance pay accrues by length of service and is payable in addition to notice on most terminations.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Commissioner of Labour mediates; the Industrial Court determines; appeals lie to the Court of Appeal.
- Deadline — Trade dispute: referred to the Commissioner of Labour for mediation before the Industrial Court is seised
- Deadline — Severance pay: accrues after 60 months' continuous service, then per completed year
Governing law
- Employment ActCap 47:01
- Trade Disputes Act 2016
- Trade Unions and Employers' Organisations ActCap 48:01
In practice
The Industrial Court's equity jurisdiction lets it decide what is fair rather than only what the contract says, which makes it the operative forum for unfair-dismissal claims even where the Employment Act's own remedies are narrow.