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

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

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

The laws which govern employment occupy a position of considerable importance in any modern society. This is so because of the tremendous contributions which workers can make to national growth and development, as well as the general well-being of the nation’s citizenry. Labour law has a vital role to play in the mobilization of the work force for national growth. The major players in employment are essentially-the employer and the employee and whenever there is a contractual relationship between these two parties, the binding contract naturally brings about rights and duties which must be complied with. Their respective rights and duties have to be analyzed wholly in contractual terms. In many civilize countries, a case study of Nigerian, it has been observed from historical antecedents, a structured favor to employers over and above the employees liability arose. As much as it is an undisputed fact that employers reserve the right to dismiss alongside other rights, employees also have rights which they can also exercise. But in most circumstances, due to ignorance of many employees, the opportunity to challenge such unlawful acts of the employers elude them. Efforts has been made in this research projects to identify these problems, their causes and also solutions have been suggested in the concluding chapter for a need to reform the whole set up as it affects labor law and practice in Nigeria.

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

INTRODUCTION

Meaning and Scope of Contract of Employment

The contract of employment is a specie of contract, and is Therefore governed by general principles of the law of contract, consensusad item, Being a kind of simple contract, contract of employment must also satisfy the elements of a valid contract. The vitiating factors are also applicable to it. What distinguishes a contract of employment from a simple contract, which chitty defines as a promise or a set of promises which the law will enforce1, is the degree of control that one party has over the other party2. Also, a contract of employment relates to a relationship that exists between two or more persons for the performance of services, while one person is employed by the other. Where as, a contract relates to a relationship that exist between two or more persons in any transaction, generally.

Traditional statements of what constitute a contract of employment, place most emphasis on the power of the employer to control the work of the employee in contrast to a contract with an independent contractor.In Chadwick v. pioneer private telephone Ltd, contract of employment was defined thus: contract of services implies an obligation to serve and it comprises some degree of control by the master”3. It must howeverbe noted that there is no comprehensive definition, only conflicting criteria’s. A contract of employment can be defined as a contract entered in to by two parties whereby one party submits himself to the service of the other for some considerations in most cases salary and wages. An attempt has, however been made in the sphere of labor[1]Legislation in Nigeria4 at defining a contract of employment as;

’’Any agreement whether oral or written, express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as a worker and that other person agrees to serve the employer as a worker.”

It is a contract of service and not for service, what differentiates them is the fact that in a contract of service, a man (employee), places his labor at the disposal of another, resulting in a relationship between the to parties. Where as, a contract for services involve a situation where a man who operates an independent business agrees to do labor or carry out a task or tasks for the person of another. In past times, the contract of employment was known as and called a relationship of ‘’ master and servant”.

Since employment relationship strictly represents subordination of an individual as a worker to an employer, which relationship could be described as a dependent labor relationship, Mr. Y’s house keeper, gate keeper, driver or chauffeur is his employee, that a laundry man or a t-axi driver is an independent contractor5.

Thus, for a contract of employment to be [2]distinguished from a contract for service, the parties involved must avail themselves of the statutory rights under it. That is, it must be shown that a relationship of employer and employee or master and servant exists between them. Thus, there must be terms agreed by both parties for this will be the sole principle which will guide their acts and conducts during the subsistence of the employment. As held by the court in SMITH V. GENERAL MOTOR CAB. CO6, where the claim for the existence of such relationship between the parties fails.

As must have been noted, a contract of service involves two separate legal categories of persons namely – an Employer, master, hirer, or recruiter, and an Employee. WHO IS AN EMPLOYER ?: Although this has no précise meaning in law;

’’An employer is any person who has entered in to contract of employment to employ any other person as a worker her for himself or for the services of any other person and includes the agents, manager, or factor of that first mentioned person and the personal representatives of a deceased employer.”7

An employer can also be defined as; ’’The entrepreneur who engages a worker under a dependent labor relationship and has control over that worker to the extent that such worker could be referred to as an employee’’. Also, an employer is ’’Any person who employs or engages labour or the service of another person under contract of service’’.Theemployer could be an individual, a partner, a corporate body or even a state (the Government).8

WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?

Any person who has entered in to or works under a contract with an employer whether the contract is for manual labor or clerical work or express or implied or oral or written, and whether it is a contract of service or a contract personally to execute any work or labor but does not include…………… persons exercising administrative, executive, technical or professional functions as public officer or otherwise.”9

To identify an employer or servant then, the essential question is ’’ was his contract a contract of service within the meaning which an ordinary person would give to the word?”. In CASSIDY v. MINISTER OF HEALTH10Bomerell,l.jgave the view that, if the answer is YES, then such a person will be regarded as an employee. In ADEYEMO v. OYO STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISION,11 the plaintiff who was a deputy accountant Generalloyo state public service was held to be a servant or employee. Employee and servant have been used interchangeably by authors also, various Nigerian statutes have defined who a servant is by using words like workers, employee or workman.