Employees attached to the delivery unit at DPL Festive Limited, the manufacturers of the widely distributed Festive Bread brand and one of the largest industrial bakeries in Kenya, are said to be operating under demanding and exhausting work schedules that require them to report for duty as early as 2 am, work continuously from Sunday to Sunday without designated rest days, leave, or public holidays, and endure long delivery hours that often stretch late into the night before resuming duty again just a few hours later.
According to the workers, absences linked to illness, bereavement, or other urgent personal matters are treated as unexcused and result in salary deductions, a situation that forces some employees to report to work while unwell and continue operating delivery routes under extreme fatigue, raising questions about worker welfare and safety within the company’s logistics operations.
They are now urging DPL Festive Limited to implement structured off days, leave, and holiday schedules, warning that continued neglect of worker welfare could prompt them to escalate the matter to the Ministry of Labour and other regulatory authorities to ensure compliance with labour laws at their bakery based along Lunga Lunga Road in Industrial Area, Nairobi.
“Hello Nyakundi. Kindly hide my ID. As concerned wife and human being I need help for my husband who works with FESTIVE BREAD, for the following reasons. My husband works from Sunday to Sunday, NO OFF DAY, NO HOLIDAY, NO LEAVE day. He normally goes to work 2 am in the morning then he will return depending on how he managed to deliver the bread faster. Sometimes delivery delays until late, but still you have to wake up next day to report to work with all the fatigue and tiredness. They are normally picked by a company vehicle at 2 am. If he decides not to go work maybe for valid reasons like sickness or Matanga they count it as ABSENT and deduct from your salary. There was a day he was sick alijivruta and went to work. Like Christmas EVE, he returned home almost 10 pm, but still the next day he reported to work at 2 am. The guy was damn tired because the previous delivery was so much. This goes to all the delivery department. At least they should plan for their employees off day, leave day and holiday, like alternating them, it is not much to ask. Many staff are complaining. Thanks.”
