The House of Representatives is currently reviewing a bill that aims to penalize employers who do not pay their employees’ salaries promptly.
This proposed legislation, known as the Employees Remuneration Protection Bill, has been introduced to tackle the problem of delayed or unpaid wages throughout the country.
The bill is being sponsored by Wale Hammed, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Agege federal constituency of Lagos State.
The bill, which has passed its first reading in Section 7(1), states that “it shall be unlawful for any employer to refuse or neglect to pay the remuneration of his employees, as provided under this Act.”
The bill further states in Section 8(1) that “where an employee’s remuneration is unpaid after the expiration of the period allowed by this bill, the employee, who desires to claim his entitlement, shall serve upon his employer a written demand for the payment of entitlement.”
However, it provides that “where a demand is served pursuant to Section 9 of this bill and the employee remains unpaid after five working days, the employee may apply to the court by way of motion on notice for redress.”
As a result, the proposed legislation mandates a three- to six-month prison sentence without the possibility of a fine for individual businesses guilty of failing to pay their employees’ wages.
A corporate organization that fails to comply with a court judgment for the payment of its employee(s) is liable for a fine of N10,000 for each day of delinquency and “be sealed off for a period of time not exceeding three months, where the default is more than two months.”
In the alternative, the proposed legislation prescribes the “committal of every officer or agent of the company, government parastatal, agency, body or institution, who knowingly or wilfully authorises or permits the default or failure to a fine of N10,000 until the order is complied with.”
According to the bill, employers are required to provide written terms of employment to their employees within 14 working days after the employee resumes work, if the employment is for more than one month.
The employment contract should be signed by both the employer and employee and should include details about the nature of the job, how it can be terminated by either party, payment and payment methods, and terms and conditions.
Additionally, Section 27 of the proposed legislation states that if an employee applies to the court for payment of their salary, the employer cannot take any disciplinary action, issue a query, suspend, or dismiss the employee based on that application.
