Barclays employees sue banker for wrongful dismissal

21 former employees of Barclays Kenya are accusing the bank of sacking them wrongfully and closing the regional office without following legal and regulatory procedures.

The petitioners say that in March 2015, it came to their attention that Barclays was harboring intentions of closing down its regional office, after which they approached the bank, which allegedly denied any plans to close. They claim that in 2015 Barclays Africa renewed a six-year lease to keep the regional office in Nairobi open.

They accuse the Barclays of discrimination in their severance packages in favour of non-Kenyan employees and that the said terms were in conflict with the collective bargaining agreement of unionisable employees.

However, Barclays Kenya says the closure of the office is in line with the merger that formed Barclays Africa in 2013, which made regional offices redundant due to duplication of roles.

In January, Barclays Africa announced that it would shift all support roles to its South Africa premises. This situation further aggravates the already susceptible position that Barclays Africa is in, with the looming exit of Barclays PLC.