Clinical officers at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital have suffered a setback after the Employment and Labour Relations Court declined to stop the expiry of their contracts, dealing a blow to a union-led attempt to keep dozens of health workers in their jobs.
The court dismissed a petition filed by the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, which had challenged the hospital’s decision not to extend the employment contracts of its members. In its ruling, the court held that workers engaged on fixed-term contracts are not entitled to automatic renewal once the agreed period comes to an end.
The dispute arose after the hospital issued notices in October 2025, March 2026 and April 2026 informing affected clinical officers that their employment would cease upon the expiry of their contracts.
The union argued that the hospital’s action was unlawful and violated constitutional principles because no reasons had been given for the decision. It maintained that the affected workers had remained in service through several contract extensions and had every reason to expect that their employment would continue.
According to the union, the hospital continues to face staffing shortages and still requires the services of the clinical officers whose contracts were allowed to lapse.
In its submissions, the union pointed to staffing benchmarks set by the World Health Organisation, stating that outpatient care requires one clinical officer for every 5,000 people while inpatient services require three clinical officers for every 50 beds.
The union further argued that the hospital, which has a capacity of about 600 beds and operates as a top-level referral facility, falls short of those staffing standards.
“The repeated renewals over time and the manifest need for the affected clinical officers’ services at the hospital created a legitimate expectation that the employment of the petitioner’s members would not be terminated abruptly,” the union argued.
However, the court was not persuaded by those arguments and found that the expiry of a fixed-term contract does not amount to unlawful termination. It held that the end of such contracts is governed by the agreed terms and does not create an obligation on the employer to offer a fresh contract.
The decision effectively ends the union’s effort to compel the hospital to retain the affected clinical officers after the expiry of their contracts.