What The Law Says About Your Rights As An Employee

By// Comments are Off// Know your rights

Under Nigeria’s Labour Law, the following rights are guaranteed to you as an employee:

  • Manner Of Payment Of Salary – the law says that your salary as a worker must only be paid by legal tender, and not otherwise. This means that as a worker, you cannot be paid by way of trade by barter, in kind, on bond, by pledge or in exchange for servitude.

When we say legal tender, in simple terms, our Naira and Kobo is a form of legal tender. So, the law goes further to provide that if your salary is to be paid, whether wholly or partly, in any other manner other than by legal tender, then the contract of employment shall be illegal, null and void.

  • No Condition As To How To Spend Your Salary – the law prohibits your employer from dictating to you or imposing any condition on you as to how to spend your salary. Your employer cannot also dictate to tell you where to spend your salary, or to whom you must spend it. What this means is that it is illegal for your employer to tell you that you must only spend your salary to buy food at a particular canteen, or that you must only buy your provisions or foodstuffs from a particular store, or that you must only rent your house from a particular individual or entity. Any such condition is illegal. If any such term or condition is included in your contract of employment, then such a contract is illegal, null and void. Your freedom of choice must be respected at all times.
  • On Salary Advance – please take note of the following points:
  1. The law says that no employer is allowed to pay his worker any salary advance of more than one month.
  2. Where advance salary has been paid to a worker, the law says that the period to be allowed for the worker to repay the salary must not be less than three months. So, it is illegal for your employer to give you a salary advance and request you to repay it within one month.
  3. If your employer already gave you a salary advance which you have not finished repaying, the law is that you are not entitled to any additional salary advance until you finish paying the previous one. However, if there is a necessity for it, then your employer is permitted to approve another salary advance.
  • Deductions From Your Salary – this is another important point for all workers. The rule guiding deductions from your salary are as follows:
  1. Deductions from a worker’s salary must be permitted by law. This means, therefore, that any deduction of your salary not permitted by law is illegal. The deductions that are permitted by law are as follows:
  2. Deductions paid as your contribution to provident or pension funds, or any other scheme agreed to by the worker and approved by the State Authority;
  3. Deductions made as your member contribution to a registered and recognized trade union. Please note that the law allows you to write to contract out of this system; and once you do so, no further deductions should be made from your wages as membership contributions.
  • If you were overpaid, then deductions may be made from your wages. But such over-payment must have occurred within the previous three months.
  1. The total amount that can be deducted from your salary in any one month must not exceed one-third of your salary for that month.
  2. However, if you have caused your employer injury or losses by your neglect or willful misconduct, then your employer is permitted to make reasonable deductions, so long as he has obtained the consent in writing of an authorized labour officer.
  • Your Contract Of Employment – Once you have started working, the Labour Act prescribes that your employer must give you a written statement, not later than three months after you started work. This written statement must specify the following:
  1. The name of your employer or group of employers;
  2. The undertaking by which you were employed;
  3. Your name and address;
  4. The date and place of your engagement, and the nature of the employment;
  5. If the contract is for a fixed term, the date when the contract expires;
  6. Length of notice to be given if the employment is to be terminated. Such notice must be in accordance with the provisions of the law. See paragraph (7) below.
  7. The rate of your wages, how it is to be calculated, when and how it is to paid;
    • Must contain any term and condition relating to your hours of work, holidays and holiday pay, or incapacity for work due to illness and the provision for sick pay;
  8. Any other special conditions of the contract.
  • Generally too, no contract of employment shall prohibit a worker from joining any trade union or shall mandate a worker to join any particular trade union.
  • If an employment is to be terminated, the following length of notice shall apply:
  1. For an employment of 3 months or less – one-day notice;
  2. For employment of more than 3 months but less than 2 years – one-week notice;
  3. For employment of more than two years but less than 5 years – 2 weeks;
  4. For employment of five years and above – one month.

Note that under the law, any notice of termination of one week and above must be in writing. And nothing stops any of the parties to the employment contract from waiving his right to notice and accepting payment in lieu of notice.