The financial crisis facing the Standard Group has taken a new twist after seven former employees filed a case demanding full settlement of their unpaid dues.
In correspondence seen by The Kenya Times, several petitions were registered at the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) with disgruntled former employees seeking to find justice at last.
A former senior KTN News journalist who spoke to The Kenya Times confirmed that seven former employees filed their cases on Thursday, January 18, and Friday January 19, after a period of waiting where the company reportedly took them in circles.
The reporter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that their woes started shortly after the 2022 elections.
According to the him, Standard Group started experiencing financial restraints towards the end of 2022 with employees going for months without pay.
At the time, some journalists waited for months without receiving their monthly pay only to receive half of their single month pay after months of piling pressure on the management.
“If you used to earn for example Ksh100,000 you would get Ksh50,000, then you would go for another two months to get another 50% of your salary,” the reporter recounted.
After a few months of complaints and pressure, Standard Group’s management resorted to Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) in September 2023 where willing employees would exit the listed firm.
When Standard resorted to early retirement
In return, Standard offered to pay employees who chose VER their unpaid dues and other statutory entitlements in six installments.
On October 31, 2023, the reporter and several others relinquished their duties at the company as agreed.
The agreement, according to the source, would see the retired employees receive their dues beginning November 3.
To their disappointment, however, the company failed to honor its part of the agreement, sending the employees to another period of waiting.
After defaulting for two months, about 40 of the former employees wrote a demand letter to the company.
Then, in an apparent divide and rule move, the company paid some of the retired employees who did not write a demand letter and left out the 40 to suffer.
“We were supposed to receive 20%, several other installments of about 13% at intervals,” the source said.
The delays left employees stranded with most of their plans derailed.
According to the former senior journo, plans to invest and start a new life were dashed after Standard Group withheld the cash.
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Employees file for insolvency
Consequently, the affected former employees decided to take legal action aimed at compelling the company to settle their dues and penalties including interest for the delays.
In the conversation, the reporter said that the disgruntled employees also filed for insolvency of the company.
According to our source, the failure by the company to settle arrears owed to its employees is a reflection of the financial crisis facing the company.
The now depressed journalist running out of options went on to state that current employees were still facing the same predicaments with the company repeatedly failing to pay salaries.
“We have also filed for insolvency of the company because the company is unable to pay staff and they said they have allocated money for such a purpose then definitely it is bankrupt and should be closed down,” he said.
“I think it’s time for Standard to accept and agree that everything has a season,” the journalist added, implying that it was, perhaps, time to call it a day for the media company that has been in existence for more than 100 years.
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Standard group woes deepen
The development adds to the list of cases relating to the financial crisis at the Standard Group and an endless tussle with its employees.
In late 2023, the media company was put on the spot after a leaked message revealed a case of an employee who had reached a point of contemplating suicide.
In yet another incident, employees at the station went up in arms against auctioneers who reportedly entered its premises seeking to take away key equipment.
Its financial crisis has also seen a number of prominent journalists and presenters take the exit route, with some relocating to rival companies.
The Standard Group is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange – NSE and owned by former President the late Daniel Moi’s family.
