The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said the federal government would bring the full wrath of the law to bear on employers who violate the rights of their employees hiding under the guise of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ngige handed the threat while speaking at a webinar organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Abuja Office, on the impact of Covid-19 on the rights of migrant workers in Nigeria. According to the minister, it was wrong for employers to cut the salaries of employees or terminate their appointments without holding negotiations with the workers to see reason why such measures became inevitable.
While calling on the Nigerian Employers Consultative Forum (NECA) to report erring employers to his ministry, the minister disclosed that, “We got report of three States that did this and we have called them to revert and do the right thing.”
He also announced plans to review licenses of labour outsourcing firms to ensure that workers were not exposed to indecent work conditions, even as he denied reports that Covid-19 palliatives were given to portfolio firms instead of genuine employers of labour.
Speaking further, he said interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Bank of Industry; Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria; SMEDAN; among others were given to known and functional business entities.
The minister also expressed concern that over 60 per cent of the Labour force were in the informal sector stating that there was need to formalise the informal sector as much as possible so they can be captured in intervention from the government.
Earlier, Director-General of NECA, Dr. Timothy Olawale, who was represented by Mr. Wale Smart urged employers not to consider laying off workers and salary cut as an immediate option to cope with the negative impact of Covid-19.
