The Place of Non-Workers in the Nigerian Labour Equation: Addressing the Lacuna
Working Paper
The legal framework governing the offer, acceptance, and performance of employment in Nigeria consists of a number of statutes. The most pivotal of these legislations, arguably, is the Labour Act, which covers the fine mechanics of the employment process, from hiring to how an employee may be disengaged by his or her employer. The Labour Act, however, admits of a significant lacuna, since it only covers “Workers,” defined by the Act as those engaged in manual or clerical capacity at their places of employment. Employees outside this category are not governed by the Labour Act or any other statutory source made to provide for the terms and processes of their employments. As a result, there is a vacuum in the legal regime governing employment in Nigeria, and this Brief seeks to identify this vacuum and proffer solutions accordingly.