On Monday, Nigerian workers celebrated the International Workers’ Day and as part of the commemoration, diverse affiliates of the Labour body made specific requests from government amd employers.
This once again threw up the welfare of workers and continuous violation of the rights especially their rights that the workers might not be aware of.
Contrary to widespread belief that employeees have no rights, Nigeria have quite extensive laws that protect workers but many people are not aware of these laws.
What rights do workers have? Below are some of the provisions made for employee rights.
Maternity leave: Employee rights provides that all pregnant female employees are entitled to at least 12 weeks’ maternity leave with an entitlement to full or at least 50 per cent of her salary if she has been in continuous service of the employer for at least 6 months.
And while the Nigerian Labour Act makes no provision for paternity leave, Lagos State has a provision that gives male civil servants 10 days’ paternity leave within the first two months of the birth of the baby.
The law also makes it illegal for an employer to dismiss a pregnant worker or employee who recently gave birth; the courts have held that such termination is a breach of the human rights of the employee and would amount to wrongful termination.
Work Reference: On the issue of work reference from former employee, while a former employee is not entitled to a work reference as a right, there is an implied obligation to provide a work reference in appropriate circumstances and the reference must be true, accurate, fair and not misleading.
It should be noted that where a false or vindictive reference is provided, the employee could sue the employer. So, employers with a penchant for using references as payback or to victimise former employee must be careful.
Training Bonds: In Nigeria, it is a norm. Tnis is a situation where employers sponsor their employees on training with a caveat that they must stay for a period of time and use the knowledge for the growth of the company or repay the amount expended on the training
There had been questions to the legality of this contractual arrangement but the fact is that training bonds are void and unenforceable because they constitute a restraint of trade and violate our Labour Laws. In particular situations however, it can be enforceable if its terms are reasonable; the length is not unduly long, and it is necessary to protect the legitimate business interests of the employer.
Medical assessment: This is allowed under the Nigerian law; employers may conduct medical examination on employees using a registered medical practitioner to determine the fitness of the employee for a particular job. But it is prohibited to test employees for HIV/AIDS as a precondition for employment or during the course of employment. This is illegal and an offence under the HIV Anti-Discrimination Act 2014.
Also, there are mandatory obligations expected from employers, they include Personal Income Tax (PIT) under the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) scheme, Contributory Pension Scheme, National Housing Fund (NHF) Contribution, Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS) Levy, Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Contribution and Development Levy.
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