Former Standard Group employees stage protest over salary arrears, Sacco savings

Former Standard Group employees have made good their threat of continued protests to demand for their pay that is yet to be remitted, for some 2 years since having left the company.

The employees, who are seeking the remittance of statutory deductions taken from their salaries, also want their Sacco savings returned to them. They claim their former employer has refused to refund the Sacco monies.

Five days ago, the company through its Chief Executive Officer Marion Mwangi had committed to engage the over 400 affected staff directly, to address the payment delays.

“They have not remitted money for statutory deductions like NHIF for 2 years, KRA for 2 years, NSSF for 2 years, pension from 2019. What do they want us to do? They deducted this from our pay and they are not remitting the funds,” lamented one of the former employees.

Yet another ex-staffer, Nicholas Lusuli, said: “We need our Sacco savings immediately, we saved our hard earned money and we need that money today. We are saying Standard Group must pay. Standard Group will have to pay. Standard Group has no option.”

The dejected former Standard Group employees on Thursday last week also gathered outside the company's premises along Mombasa Road, in an attempt to force their ex-employer's hand.

They accused the media house of failing to honor their redundancy and severance pay commitment after laying them off.

The former staff also accused the Standard Group of using underhanded tactics to turn them against each other and claimed that the CEO, Marion Mwangi, is stonewalling their efforts to reach her office and follow up on their dues.

In a statement released that evening, Ms. Mwangi said the company held a meeting with the affected former staff and agreed to "outline our commitment to fulfilling our obligations regarding outstanding dues... Both parties have agreed to establish a working group comprising representatives from both sides to engage directly with the Group Chief Executive Officer in order to address the payment delays."