In a significant legal development, the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi has upheld the dismissal of Catherine Ochako, a former payroll accountant at Del Monte Kenya Ltd, for unauthorized manipulation of the company’s payroll system. While on sick leave in November 2020, Ochako accessed the payroll system without authorization and increased her basic salary from Ksh 91,105 to Ksh 250,000. She also altered her housing allowance from Ksh 19,000 to Ksh 35,000 and converted her transport allowance of Ksh 7,500 into a vehicle allowance of Ksh 28,000.

These unauthorized changes were discovered during a routine monthly payroll review by her supervisor, leading to an internal investigation. Despite Ochako’s defense that the alterations were part of her regular checks to ensure correct tax deductions and did not result in actual financial loss to the company, the court found her actions to be a clear breach of trust and misconduct. Justice Byram Ongaya ruled that Del Monte’s decision to terminate her employment was both procedurally and substantively fair.