Any employer who disengages a worker after a period of six months from the date of first engagement without regularising the worker’s employment, in no distance time, will be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two million naira or to imprisonment for a period of two years, or to both the fine and imprisonment, as the Court deems fit.
These sanctions which apply to both a natural person and corporate body employer are provided for in the Labour Act Amendment Bill that was on Thursday passed for a second reading in the House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Olawale Raji (APC, Lagos), the Bill seeks to amend the Labour Act to prohibit and criminalise casualisation of workers after six months’ engagement by employers in Nigeria, outsourcing employment in core areas of operations.
According to the Bill, the principal Act is amended by creating a new Section 8 which stipulates that: “Every worker in Nigeria engaged or employed by and has remained in such employment for a period of not less than six months shall have his employment or engagement regularised by the Employer as a full and permanent staff of such employer with all its accompanying entitlements.
“Any Employer who disengages a worker after a period of six months from the date of first engagement without regularising the worker’s employment as in sub-section 1 of this section shall at the date of disengagement pay to the worker full salary and all allowances and entitlements due to a permanent staff for six months as if the worker has been a permanent staff in the employment of the Employer for six months immediately preceding the date of disengagement provided the worker has not been found liable of any criminal act involving fraud resulting to financial loss to the company”.
The Bill also indicated that the Principal Act is amended by creating a new Section 9 which provides that: “an employer, who has obtained the Minister’s license, employment outsourcing by such employers within its core aims and objectives of operation is hereby prohibited. It is an offence for an employer to pay another person, whether corporate or natural person for services rendered to it by its worker.
“Failure to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) above, the employer shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to:
“(a) in the case of a natural person, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two million naira or to imprisonment for a period of two years or to both such fine and imprisonment as the Court may deem fit without prejudice to the right of the worker to his full entitlements as provided under this section.
“(b) in the case of a Corporate body, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two million naira or to imprisonment for a period of two years for each director of the Company or to both such fine and imprisonment as the Court may deem fit without prejudice to the right of the worker to his full entitlements as provided under this section.”
In a lead debate on the Bill, the sponsor, Raji argued that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is currently estimated at 33.5 percent and the estimate does not include workers in disguised unemployment constituted largely by workers in casual/contract employment.
He said currently, section 7 of the Labour Act provides that not later than three (3) months after the beginning of a worker’s employment, the employer shall give him a written statement of employment containing the terms and conditions of employment but under the extant law there is no adequate consequence for noncompliance.
“The proposed amendment is intended to abolish the obnoxious practice of casualisation of a worker’s employment by creating a new section 8 which provides that an employer has a period of not less than six (6) months of engaging a worker to regularize his appointment as a full and permanent staff.
“After a critical examination of the provisions of the relevant laws and the practices as we have currently in the employment sector, I humbly urge this Honourable House to support my amendment bill of the Labour Act to mandate the regularization of an employee’s employment after six (6) months of employment and to prohibit outsourcing of employment in the employer’s core areas of operation and to further punish those in breach of this employment law”, Raji added.
