Employer's Liability to His Employee Under the Nigerian Contract of Employment

Employer’s Liability to His Employee Under the Nigerian Contract of Employment

CHAPTER ONE

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The General Objective of this Study is to critically look into the Nigerian Contract of employment and how it affects the relationship between the employee and the employer.

To determine the extent of the liability of Nigerian employers as provided under the Nigerian laws.
To evaluate the present Nigerian contract of employment their protective and compensatory capacity to the contemporary employees.
To consider the possibility of reducing or eradicating the friction between employers and employees regarding the contract of employment and make recommendations on how to improve the labour laws and work standards in Nigeria.

CHAPTER TWO

DUTIES OF THE EMPLOYER AND RIGHTS OF THE EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE

Sources Of The Employer’s Duties

The duties agreed on or imposed on the employer in a contract of service is derived from a multiplicity of sources which can be expressed in terms of legal and extra legal sources. Wherever employer workers relationship exists, whether express or implied and if it is express, whether oral or written, the employer owes certain duties to the employee. These duties may be expressly provided for in the terms of the contract of employment or implied into the terms even though not expressly stated.

The employer’s duties to his employee basically come under the common law and under statutes. The Received English Common Law which involves the principles of equity and statutes of general application inforce in England as at 1^st January 1900, which were received into Nigeria through the various receptions laws, introduced some duties into the employer-employee relationship. Besides the received English Laws, there are also statutes which regulated employment relationships between master and servant. These statutes include: The factories Act, NigeriaLabour Act, Trade Union Act,the Trade Dispute Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 of 1993, Pensions Act 1990, Wages Legislation and the employee’s Compensation Act. There are also Nigerian case laws bordering on the duties of the employer to his employee, though derived from the common law. Employers also have a duty of care to the employees under the following international instruments; Fatal Accident Law of the states, National environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency Act (NESREA) 2007, International Labour Organization Conventions and Recommendations.

THE COMMON LAW DUTIES

It had earlier been noted that the duties of both parties are fixed partly by the express terms of the contract, and partly by the terms which can be implied or will be held to be necessary and important depending on the nature of the contract.

Paramount among the duties of the employer at common law is the duty to take reasonable care for the safety of his worker’. This duty under the common law is usually divided into three, namely:

Provision of safe plant, including safe equipment, tools, materials and appliances in the workplace.
Provision of safe and secure system of work, that is, a safe process
Provision of the employee with reasonably competent fellow employees.

Duty to make available proper tools and plants for work: The employer is under the duty to supply proper tools and maintain the necessary plants that will aid the employee in his service to him. The employer may be in breach of his duty by failing to provide the required plant at all, failing to provide the quality of plants required for the job, providing dangerous of defective plants when he knew or ought to have known of the danger or defect.³⁰ In LOVELL V. BLUNDELLS AND CROMPTON & CO. LTD,³¹ the employer was found not to have provided the needed plants for the employee’s work. In BOWATER V. ROWLEY REGIS COOPERATION³², the action against the cooperation was upheld by the court of Appeal on the ground that the cooperation had been negligent in supplying defective and dangerous plant for the work. Even where the tools are purchased from a reputable dealer and an employer has knowledge of its dangerous character.

CHAPTER THREE

LIABILITIES OF THE EMPLOYER AND REMEDIES OF THE EMPLOYEE

CONTRACTUAL BREACH AND EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY

It is common knowledge that the employer owes some contractual duties to his employee, which if he fails to perform, he becomes contractually liable to the employee. But the question to be determine now is, when can it be said that an employer should be liable to his employee. Isit in all situations and for whatever the employee does in the course of the employment? What actually amounts to contractual breach and liability to an employer? Contracts are made to be performed, hence the requirement of Law that the parties musty intend to be bound by the terms of the contract. This helps, as there exists certainty as to the duty of every party to perform his own part of the agreement.

CHAPTER FOUR

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION

SUMMARY

Employment is a generic term or umbrella covering many things. Given a situation where the terms of the contract of employment clearly specify the duties and responsibilities of the employee alongside the employer or master’s duties and as well the implied terms which are imposed by law simply because of the existence of contract of service. The courts have in resent times used the implied terms and certain incidents of contract of employment of the employer and employee relationship to regulate the employment relationship, to place new obligations upon the employer and the employee as well as to create new rights. Despite the obligations and rights each party has, it has been observed from historical antecedents that the employee in a contract of employment is the weaker party.

Recommendations

The question now is, what needs to be done to salvage the groaning employees in the country? Ineffect, Nigerian workers who are sacrifice daily for the economic development of the country are left to the whims and caprices of their employers. In all industrialized countries of the world, the safety of the worker, his security and satisfaction in the job are the paramount concern of the state. The constitution itself in section 17(3) of the 1999 constitution seeks to ensure that the Nigerian workers is able to participate fully in the economic, political and social development of the nation. Regrettably though, this provision is often not heeded.

Bibliography

Chitty, (1977):General principles of contract, Butterworths, London (24^th ed.)
Michael Dugeri, (2013). The Employee’s compensation Act, 2010 Issues, prospects and Challenges. June 24.
R, K, Salman, : A critical Analysis of Rights of Employer and Employee under contract of employment.
N. EmeWorugi, (1999). Introduction to Individual Employment law in Nigeria, Calabar, Adorable press.
Munkman, John, (1985). Employers Liability at common law, London, Butterworths.
Emiola, A. (1987). Nigerian Labour Law, Ibadan University press (3^rd ed.)
Oguniyi, O. (1991). Nigerian Labour and Employment Law, IkejaFoji Associations Ltd.
Harvey, H. (1983).Industrial Relations and Employment law, London Butterworth.

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