Kenya Power workers get Sh2b pay rise, average salary is now Sh110K
Employees of electricity distributor Kenya Power earned an extra Sh2.2 billion in salaries and wages last year, representing a 17.1 per cent pay increase in a period when the company’s profit remained nearly flat.
Kenya Power’s annual payroll of Sh14.9 billion represents an average monthly salary of Sh110,233 for each of the utility’s firm’s 11,295 workers.
Senior managers, however, ordinarily earn multiple times what the lower-cadre employees receive.
The power distributor’s staff count increased by 162, or 1.5 per cent, which is significantly lower than the jump in total earnings.
SALARY REVIEWS
The disclosures, contained in the NSE-listed firm’s latest annual report, attribute the disproportionate jump in wages to salary reviews implemented for management and unionisable staff.
“To motivate and harness the potential of human capital in the business, management implemented salary reviews for management staff following approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission,” says Kenya Power.
“Union-represented employees had their terms also reviewed following implementation of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).”
Kenya Power’s average employee salary is, however, lower than that of its counterpart in the energy industry, KenGen, whose Sh6.9 billion wage bill equals an average of Sh233,443 for each of its 2,476 workers.
Kenya Power’s revised CBA with its unionisable employees under the Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union is effective until 2021.
BATTLE WITH UNION
The CBA was signed after an intense battle between the union and the power firm, culminating in a disagreement which was adjudicated in court.
Management staff who met or surpassed the targets set out in their performance contracts, which the power firm says are reviewed periodically, were also rewarded during the year.
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SOURCE: Business Daily