The Nation Newspaper

Tag: employers

  • NSITF threatens to sue employers for breaking its law

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) may henceforth sue employers which refused to register with it in line with the law, its Managing Director /Chief Executive   Adebayo Somefun, has warned.

    He said in Abuja that for too long, many employers had defaulted in registering with NSITF.

    The penalty  for defaulters, he said, was too light, adding that  the NSITF would seek an amendment to its Act and the Employees Compensation Act (ECA) in order to enforce compliance.

    “Dialogue is very important, we will try to persuade them and also use the apparatus of  the government and the law. We must mandate them because it is mandatory.

    “Where persuasion has failed, I believe we can try to mandate them. We have written circulars but we still have some recalcitrant employers.

    “We will still try and persuade them and enforce where necessary, unfortunately, the penalty is so small.

    “So, I believe that this Act also has to be amended to give stiffer penalties,”Somefun said.

    He said he was discussing with his management on how  to pursue the Act’s amendment to ensure stiffer penalties.

    Somefun said part of his plans for NSITF the fund was to make Nigerians aware of its core functions.

    The statutory responsibility of the NSITF, he said, was to compensate employees who suffer from occupational diseases and sustain injury or disability from accidents in work place.

    “NSITF provides compensation to the dependants of an employee who dies in their workplace.

    “NSITF helps the employer to save for the rainy day,” he said.

    He described ECA as a no-fault scheme since it is a social fund which intends to ensure speedy compensation of employees.

    Any injured employee could be trained or rehabilitated under the NSITF in any vocation suitable for his condition.

    He said the fund had made it a duty to complete any request for compensation within two weeks, adding that he would work to bring the processing time down to days.

    “Compensation has started, that is why you have not seen people carrying placards saying that they have not been paid.

    “There is no request for compensation that has been brought to us here that has not been treated speedily,” Somefun said.

  • TUC: employers no longer adhere to pact with workers

    TUC: employers no longer adhere to pact with workers

    Organised labour has condemed some employers for what it called insincerity in handling some agreements reached with workers.

    Labour is worried the employers’ alleged failure to negotiate with workers before laying them off or withhold their benefits.

    Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, noted that employers had turned to politicians, who could no longer be trusted to keep to agreements.

    Kaigama, who spoke with The Nation, said the development had become commonplace because of the prevailing recession, as employers now took advantage of workers at every opportunity.

    His words: “The fact that there is a little drop in profit margin is not an excuse to lay off committed workers. Between July 2015 and now, the senior staff of food and beverage union has lost thousands of workers to an already over-saturated labour market.

    “The food and beverage sector had millions of workers in its employ until recently when the issue of violation of collective agreement and redundancy, arising from forex problems, among others, became the order of the day. Employers of labour have become politicians and hardly adhere to agreements.”

    Kaigama lamented the atmosphere under which employers currently operate, stressing that no company spends less than half a billion naira to power its plants  monthly.

    He said with diesel now selling for between N250 and N300 per litre, depending on where its being bought, those that could not sustain their businesses have left the shores of the country with their products still flooding Nigerian markets.

    “At its peak, the textile sector provided direct jobs to close to half a million Nigerians and millions of indirect jobs. Sadly, over 90 per cent core investors have since gone into importation.

    “We will be glad if the government can do for the industry what it did for the power sector by making solid arrangement to sell gas to this industry at the same rate it is selling to the electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) since they both require this commodity for production,”he said.

    He said the footwear and leather industry is also combating the challenge of influx of fake tyres from China and fairly used ones. The development, according to him, poses great risk to the masses who are daily on the roads.

    Citing statistics from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kaigama said a total of 4,005 deaths in 7,657 crashes were recorded at the end of week 47 of 2016, with fake tyres, contributing largely to it.

    Kaigama said the same evil that befell the textile, food and beverage, footwear and leather sectors have since befallen the pharmaceutical, chemical, aviation and iron and steel sectors, among others.

    “Reports have it that despite billions of naira so far spent on Aladja, Katsina and Ajaokuta they are yet to fully come on stream,” he said.

    The pulp and paper industries at Jebba, Iwopin and Oku-Iboku, he said, have all long been abandoned and forgotten despite several appeals to the government.

    Kaigama also called on the government to fully implement the National Automotive Policy initiative launched in 2016 through the Bank of Industry (BoI) to assist the middle class patronise local vehicle assembly plants.

    He said through this initiative, many auto plants would boost their sales, stabilise the market and create jobs, even in this period recession.

    The labour leader observed that the financial sector had also been hit by the economic lull, with the insurance and banking sectors not faring better.

  • ‘Why employers should embrace compensation scheme’

    The commencement of the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is influenced by the need to ensure that injured workers are not abandoned to their fate, its Acting Managing Director, Ismail Agaka, has said.

    He said safety at workplace was for employers and employees, saying employers thought it was for the benefit of the workers alone, hence their reluctance to enrol their workforce on the scheme.

    The NSITF boss stressed that it was erroneous for employers to think that the scheme was for the benefit of employees alone, saying that everybody is exposed to one form of occupational hazards or the other in the workplace.

    He argued that joining a scheme that promised treatment and rehabilitation of injured workers in the course of work was a huge incentive for higher productivity.

    “Joining this kind of scheme boosts the morale of the employees without shouting it. Boosting the morale of employees is more than just increasing the salaries and allowances,” he said.

    The NSITF boss also pointed out that higher productivity in the workplace always showed in the bottom-line of organisations.

    His words: “Higher bottom-line means more money coming into the company. It will also lead to better industrial climate in the workplace. A harmonious industrial relation in the country would lead to national cohesion.

    “The burden of care is transferred to the NSITF for an employer should there be any workplace accident, injury, disability or occupational disease. The scheme helps employers overcome unanticipated expenditure, especially if such comes when the organisation is not financially strong enough for such expenses.

    “How do organisations address this kind of development during cash flow challenge? Such development could lead to employees seeing their employers as wicked and uncaring, regardless of challenges such employer may be going through.”

    On the benefits of the scheme, Agaka said compensation also applied to victims of plane crashes who lose their lives in the course of work.

    ”First, if the employer of such a victim of plane crash was registered, the survivor of such a person would be compensated.

    “Secondly, the journey must be in the course of carrying out official duty. If it is confirm that it was an official trip in the course of work, then the next of kin or the dependent of the deceased employee is covered. Indeed, many such claims have been processed by the NSITF,” he said.

    Explaining that the NSITF did not operate hospitals where injured workers are treated, he said medical bills incurred by organisations on the treatment of injured workers would be settled and that NSITF would take over the treatment if it is long term.

  • Employers berate unlawful picketing

    The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has berated unlawful picketing of its yearly general meeting at the weekend by a group under the leadership of Joe Ajaero, who claims to be the leader of a splinter group of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) Director-General, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo, at a briefing noted that NECA had to postpone its AGM as the group barricaded the NECA’s House two entrances with a petrol tanker vehicle and a passenger bus, in spite of the presence of the Police, who behaved and acted helplessly.

    He said the group became unruly and unleashed mayhem on the entire neighbourhood while they did not allow anyone gain entrance or exit into the NECA House.

    Oshinowo drew attention to the negative implications of the descent of industrial relations practice and industrial harmony into disorderliness and the dispensation of lawlessness.

  • NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to punish employers in the oil, aviation and electricity sectors who sack indiscriminately.

    Speaking with The Nation, NUPENG President Comrade Igwe Achese urged the National Assembly to halt the retrenchments in these sectors in order not to worsen unemployment.

    He hailed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, for threatening to withdraw the licences of banks for sacking some workers.

    He said banks were unfair to their workers who toil daily to make their businesses viable, adding that workers were always at the receiving end, even when the banks declare huge profits and dividends.

    Relatedly, President-General, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Chris Okonkwo, has said over 2000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were yet to receive their severance pay three years after the Federal Government’s privatisation of the power assets.

    Okonkwo, who made this known at a briefing in Lagos, bemoaned the development, saying it does not show determination on the part of the government to settle the outstanding payment of the ex-workers.

    He urged the Federal Government to ensure that all outstanding and related payments on severance of PHCN workers were settled.

    “Government is also advised to urgently conclude severance payments and others involving past and present workers in the sector to close that chapter.

    “The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Minister of Labour and Employment and Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), should take specific note to avoid another threat to industrial peace in the sector in connection with this matter,” he said.

    He also advised the Federal Government to take urgent steps to bring investors and workers to sign up to rules of engagement based on law to mitigate imminent collapse of industrial peace in the power sector. The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) had backed banks on workers’retrenchment, accusing the government of meddling in the matter.

    It disagreed with  Dr. Ngige on his directive to banks and financial institutions to suspend the exercise.

    NECA Director-General Olusegun Oshinowo said labour laws did not empower the minister to issue such a directive, which he described as “uninformed and populist”.

    He added that the laws had envisaged redundancy, which was why provisions were made in Section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy,  Oshinowo said. the minister seemed not to have understood the fundamentals of industrial relations and labour laws in Nigeria and, thus, acted ultra vires.

    His words: “NECA affirms that no employer will take pleasure in declaring redundant employees which it has invested significant resources in developing over the years. Usually, redundancy exercise is foisted on employers on account of an unhealthy economy and the dynamics of the business, which often demands staff rationalisation.’’

    Oshinowo said it was part of the inalienable right of an employer to determine the optimal staff level it requires to sustain its operations, adding that employers have rights, which include the right to hire and fire within the rules governing such employment contract.

    “Employers’rights are employers’ prerogatives, which are not subject to ministerial directives.

    ”Where an employer has found it necessary to carry out retrenchment, it would respect the laws of the land and the laid down procedures for redundancy.

  • NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to punish employers in the oil, aviation and electricity sectors who sack indiscriminately.

    Speaking with The Nation, NUPENG President Comrade Igwe Achese urged the National Assembly to halt the retrenchments in these sectors in order not to worsen unemployment.

    He hailed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, for threatening to withdraw the licences of banks for sacking some workers.

    He said banks were unfair to their workers who toil daily to make their businesses viable, adding that workers were always at the receiving end, even when the banks declare huge profits and dividends.

    Relatedly, President-General, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Chris Okonkwo, has said over 2000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were yet to receive their severance pay three years after the Federal Government’s privatisation of the power assets.

    Okonkwo, who made this known at a briefing in Lagos, bemoaned the development, saying it does not show determination on the part of the government to settle the outstanding payment of the ex-workers.

    He urged the Federal Government to ensure that all outstanding and related payments on severance of PHCN workers were settled.

    “Government is also advised to urgently conclude severance payments and others involving past and present workers in the sector to close that chapter.

    “The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Minister of Labour and Employment and Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), should take specific note to avoid another threat to industrial peace in the sector in connection with this matter,” he said.

    He also advised the Federal Government to take urgent steps to bring investors and workers to sign up to rules of engagement based on law to mitigate imminent collapse of industrial peace in the power sector. The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) had backed banks on workers’retrenchment, accusing the government of meddling in the matter.

    It disagreed with  Dr. Ngige on his directive to banks and financial institutions to suspend the exercise.

    NECA Director-General Olusegun Oshinowo said labour laws did not empower the minister to issue such a directive, which he described as “uninformed and populist”.

    He added that the laws had envisaged redundancy, which was why provisions were made in Section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy,  Oshinowo said. the minister seemed not to have understood the fundamentals of industrial relations and labour laws in Nigeria and, thus, acted ultra vires.

    His words: “NECA affirms that no employer will take pleasure in declaring redundant employees which it has invested significant resources in developing over the years. Usually, redundancy exercise is foisted on employers on account of an unhealthy economy and the dynamics of the business, which often demands staff rationalisation.’’

    Oshinowo said it was part of the inalienable right of an employer to determine the optimal staff level it requires to sustain its operations, adding that employers have rights, which include the right to hire and fire within the rules governing such employment contract.

    “Employers’rights are employers’ prerogatives, which are not subject to ministerial directives.

    ”Where an employer has found it necessary to carry out retrenchment, it would respect the laws of the land and the laid down procedures for redundancy.

  • Ngige chides NECA DG for instigating bank employers against govt

    Ngige chides NECA DG for instigating bank employers against govt

    Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige has described as “thoughtless and irresponsible”, the directive issued by the Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) Dr. Segun Osinowo, to management of banks to disregard the directive of the federal government that they should shelve on-going retrenchment of workers.

    Oshinowo reportedly said at the weekend that  the labour law did not empower the minister to issue such a directive, which he considered uninformed and populist adding that the minister seems not to have shown understanding of the fundamentals of industrial relations and labour laws and thus, has “acted ultra vires,”

    He also said  the labour laws envisaged redundancy situation and, therefore, made provisions in Section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of the parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy.

    But in a statement yesterday, the minister insisted that government directives to the banks are premised on set rules of engagement.

    “Section 20 of the labour act is abundantly clear on redundancy and steps expected of institutions to safeguard not just their interests  and that of their employees  but also that of government who is the  chief guarantor of industrial harmony”, he stressed.

    The statement signed by Ministry spokesman Samuel Olowookere said the reaction of Dr. Oshinowo to government directives  pending the outcome of a conciliatory meeting and stakeholder’s summit billed for the first week of July “is not only irresponsible and thoughtless but a bland knee jerk reaction borne out of self service and unpatriotism”.

    The statement said any reaction that tends to hamstrung the intervention by government  in any sector  of the economy in the overall interest of all Nigerians, by invoking a sudden rigid stricture to free market rules,  is an overarching absurdity

    He said: ” If government  has been intervening, and shall continue to intervene  to save banks and allied institutions, even the aviation industry, in times of distress without allowing the free market rules to solely reign, therefore forcing some of them to go under, the same government can equally make minimum demands from this private sector in the overall interests of the nation. Our authority in this instance is not only statutory but also moral .

    ” Therefore, we wish to state clearly once more,  that the intention of government rather than being punitive on these financial institutions is to safeguard national interest by staving  off unnecessary job losses and hence avert its real and potential threat to the already fragile security situation and stability of the nation.

    ” Government intention is guided by the fact that there are clear alternatives to the abrasive lay off of thousands of workers especially in the background of non-compliance with laid down rules on redundancy as clearly enunciated in our labour laws. The labour unions in the financial has brought forward,  very strong evidence that thousands of workers laid off last year in a similar excercise are yet to receive their negotiated benefits”, the minister stated.

  • Union advocates workers’, employers’ partnership

    President, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSEAC), Mr. Chris Okonkwo, has urged employers and workers to work together to drive productivity and elevate the power sector.

    The acknowledgment of workers’labour and constitutional rights, he said, could not be undermined because they are pivotal to ensuring efficiency in the sector.

    Okonkwo, who spoke at the association’s inaugural National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos, said: “Employers should begin to see workers as partners in progress. It is only when they do this that their profiteering capability can be guaranteed. Companies by default are sabotaging themselves because you have to do what you are supposed to do first before you talk about what someone is doing to undo what you have done.”

    He said picketing is a tool in labour recognised by all conventions as a means of showing grievances against management or government. Picketing, he said,  does not mean sabotage and can only be if the intention is to blackmail workers to surrender their rights and allow them to be manipulated.

    The association, according to him, is working with the Ministry of Labour on a meeting over the sacking of 400 workers by an electricity distribution company (DisCo).

    Okonkwo lamented that the aftermath of the sector’s privatisation  was adverse, explaining that workers are bearing the brunt of companies’ failure to make adequate provision during the transition.

  • ‘Employers, workers join employees compensation scheme

    ‘Employers, workers join employees compensation scheme

    The Managing Director Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Umar Munir Abubakar has said about 33,900 employers and seven million employees have so far joined the Employees Compensation Scheme.

    Abubakar made this known at the NSITF-Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP) in Port Harcourt, the River State capital.

    He explained that the increment of employers on the scheme is because employers see  the scheme as a move by government to promote safety in the workplace and ensure that injured workers are not only treated but are rehabilitated.

    “This scheme does not only ensure the safety of workers but also promote efficiency and enhance productivity because workers now know that they can work without inhibition because they would be looked after in case of injury or death,’’ he said.

    Abubakar warned that any employer that fails to enrol its workers on the scheme would soon face prosecution.

    He said: “The legal department of the NSITF has been given marching order to prosecute every non-compliant employer. We will soon drag these recalcitrant employers to court for prosecution. We will ensure that every employer that has not will now pay from July 2011 to date because this payment is a product of the law and those who flout the law must be made to face the full wrath of the law. We have given enough grace to employers; we have cajoled them and explained why their employees must be covered under the Employees Compensation Scheme Act.”

    The NSITF boss also enjoined state governments to enrol their employees on the scheme and that it had been showing a good example by paying for its employees on the scheme.

    He said the fund was trying to revive artificial body parts manufacturing centres in Lagos and Enugu.

    “Our intention is to run these centres for about six months before implementing others. Our intention is to establish each centre in the six-geopolitical zones of the country. This is a provision that is contained in the Employees Compensation Act,” Abubakar said.

    The NSITF helmsman also said it had perfected plans to develop a checklist of requirements for claims to reduce the amount of time injured employees spend to process entitlements.

    NECA Director-General, Mr. Segun Oshinowo, called for the involvement of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the audit of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards in workplace premises.

    He urged companies to place emphasises on occupational safety in their various work environment, saying: “There is no enough money that can be paid to an employee for a lost eye or a lost finger. So, for us in NECA, the focus must always be to ensure that the workplace is safe for every employee.”

  • PenCom probes 15,000 employers for failing to remit pension

    OF the 200,000 employers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), 15, 000 are being investigated for failing to remit pensions deducted from their employees’ monthly emoluments, Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu has said.

    In a report, she  said the defaulters have been assigned to Recovery Agents (RAs) to review their records and recover any outstanding pension contributions plus penalty

    According to her, in pursuance of the statutory responsibility of ensuring compliance with the provision of the PRA 2014, the Commission deployed an application called Risk Management Analysis system for monitoring remittance of monthly pension contributions by employers.

    She said: “Defaulting employers are subject to the regime of sanctions which includes among others a recovery process.

    “The framework for recovery of outstanding pension contributions with penalty from defaulting employers among others, provided for appointment of RAs.

    “Consequently, the Commission has identified and assigned over 15,000 employers to RAs to review their records and recover any outstanding pension contributions plus penalty. The Commission also follows up on complaints from workers against their employers for failure to remit pension contributions as and when due.”

    Mrs Anohu-Amazu noted that where the employer refuses to remit the outstanding pension contributions of its employee within the time  stipulated by the  Commission, appropriate actions, including instituting legal action are taken.

    She further said remittances by state governments have also been irregular.

    “Irregular remittance by some state governments contribute to the unfunded RSAs which is caused by the economic challenges faced within the country.

    “The private sector employers also view pension contributions as an additional cost of doing business which translates to non-funding of RSAs. In addition, refusal of employees to allow deduction of their own portion of the pension contributions from their salaries due to lack of awareness of the benefits of the CPS and measures put in place for the safety of the pension funds contribute to poor funding of RSAs.”

    She stressed that both PenCom and the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) work towards ensuring employers continuously fund their employees RSAs.