The Court of Appeal has ruled that employees who sign full-and-final settlement agreements cannot later pursue additional benefits arising from the same dispute unless they prove a legally recognised reason for challenging the agreement.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

According to court documents obtained by Kenyans.co.ke , the ruling arose from a case in which an employee’s claim was dismissed after she signed a certificate confirming that her terminal dues had been received in full and final settlement.

A three-judge bench ruled that a properly signed final agreement is a binding agreement that can prevent an employee from making further claims.

“Once a party voluntarily signs a voucher acknowledging receipt of funds in full and final settlement, they are estopped from raising further claims arising from that matter, unless they can prove a recognised vitiating factor like fraud, coercion, or misrepresentation,” the judgement stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

The court explained that the agreement can only be challenged if the employee proves a recognised reason such as duress, fraud, coercion or misrepresentation.

“Unless an employee can prove that the waiver was signed under duress, fraud, or misrepresentation, the agreement validly extinguishes all existing and future statutory and contractual claims,” the judgement noted.

The case involved a worker who had been employed for more than two decades before her position was declared redundant in 2019.

She received Ksh6,957,625 in terminal dues and signed a discharge certificate stating that she had no further claims against her employer.

However, the worker later challenged the termination, arguing that the redundancy process had not complied with the requirements of the Employment Act.

The court found that the employer had failed to comply with mandatory redundancy procedures but still dismissed the claim because of the signed settlement.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke