Right Of Workers To Be Accompanied By Family Members

[Olajire Deborah]

Right Of Workers To Be Accompanied By Family Members

The labour law has also made provisions in respect of family members of a worker who has just been recruited.

In particular, the law allows the family of any citizen who is recruited for service in Nigeria, to accompany that person to his place of employment and attend to him during his employment. The number of family members the worker wishes to take with him is at his discretion, but under the law, they are limited, as follows:

They must not exceed two wives
Any of his children as are under the age of sixteen years.

It is against the law for any person to induce or attempt to induce any recruited worker to say he does not require his family members to accompany him. It is also against the law to prevent or attempt to prevent those family members from so accompanying the worker. The only exception here is that the law allows the Minister, by particular order or generally, to limit the number of wives and children who may accompany a recruited worker in respect of any particular recruiting operations.

Aside this, the law generally allows family members to accompany a recruited worker or attend to him at his place of employment.

The same situation applies for workers recruited for employment outside Nigeria. The law provides that it is the duty of the employer to provide facilities to enable the worker’s family to accompany him to the place of employment and to remain there for the full duration of the contract. These facilities are to be provided at the employer’s expense. However, if the contract is for less than one year, provisions may be made for the family to remain for less than the full duration of the contract.

In addition to the above, the law has made adequate provisions in respect of family members who accompany the recruited worker to his place of employment or who attend to him during the course of the employment. We shall examine some of these provisions below:

The Minister is empowered under the law to issue directions as he may consider necessary to ensure that adequate protection is afforded during the journey to members of family of a recruited worker who accompany him on the journey to his place of employment.
Such adequate protection may include the provision of a separate accommodation for the family during the journey.

If the family of a recruited worker accompanies him to the place of employment, and the recruited worker has to be repatriated because he was incapacitated by sickness or accident during the journey to the place of employment, or because he was not engaged after recruitment due to no fault of his, or is found to be medically unfit for the employment, or is found to have been recruited by misrepresentation or mistake, or dies during the journey to the place of employment, then the family shall also be repatriated at the expense of the recruiter or employer .

Let me end this Chapter by informing you of what the law says on the duty of employers to provide work: on every day a worker presents himself at his workplace and is fit for work, except rest days and public holidays, it is the duty of every employer to provide work suitable to the worker’s capacity. If the employer fails to do this, he must pay the worker wages for each day of non-work at the same rate as if he had performed a day’s work. But there are exceptions to this provision, as follows:

If there is a collective agreement that provides otherwise, then the collective agreement prevails.

If there is a temporary emergency or other circumstances beyond the control of the employer which makes him unable to provide work, then the worker is only entitled to the wages of the first day of the period of emergency or other circumstances. But note that the period must not exceed one week or such longer period as an authorized labour officer may allow in any particular case.

This provision will not apply where the worker is suspended from work as a punishment for a breach of discipline or any other offence.

But if there’s any dispute between an employer and his worker as to whether the worker is fit or not, such shall be referred to an authorized labour officer who may take such medical or other advice as he thinks appropriate, and his decision shall be final on this point.

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