Reps Move To Criminalise Late Payments Of Workers’ Salaries, Pension

SUCCOUR will soon come the way of workers as House of
Representatives is planning to initiate a legislation which seeks
to ensure prompt payment of salaries, pensions and other emoluments
to workers across the country.

A bill for an Act to prohibit late payment, underpayment of
workers’ wage, pension and other emoluments in Nigeria, sighted by
Sunday Tribune as being sponsored by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, prescribes penalties for
violations and other related matters.

As provided in Clause 4(3) of the bill, “an employer who
withholds salary, wage, pension and any other benefit and emolument
of any worker for a period of seven days and above, in respect of
other monetary benefits shall pay 30 per cent of such monetary
benefits for the period.”

As provided in the Schedule 1 of the bill, which stipulates the
penalties, “an employer who fails in its obligation for a period of
60 days and above shall be liable to fine of 30 per cent of the
wage for the duration and one month imprisonment and 30 per cent
fine of two months’ wage for a period of 30 to 60 days.

“Fine of 20 per cent of one month’s wage for a period of eight
to 30 days; and 10 per cent fine of the one month’s wage for a
period of one to seven days respectively.”

The bill also provides sanctions for directors of public limited
liability companies who default in the payment of salaries and
other benefits that accrued to workers.

The legislation is applicable to Nigerians working as full
employee or contract staff/apprentice (either through oral or
written agreement) in the public and private sectors.

Recall that various stakeholders including Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) and its affiliates have over the years expressed
displeasure over the level of impunity being perpetuated by
employers of labour.

In the same vein, Nigerian Union of Pensioners had also
expressed displeasure over the attitude of National Pension
Commission (PenCom) for failing to enforce several provisions of
the Pension Reform Act, 2014, which stipulate sanctions for erring
employers.

They have equally also expressed reservation over the
Commission’s failure to protect whistle-blowing employee in the new
guideline.

However, the Commission had in March 2019, announced the
recovery of N15.31 billion from defaulting employers, who failed to
remit the pension deductions of their workers into the workers’
Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA).

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