Section 59-64 of the Nigerian Labour Act 2004
Section 59, 60, 61, 62, 64 of the Nigerian Labour Act 2004 is under Part III (Special Classes Of Worker And Miscellaneous Special Provisions) of the act, and collectively titled ‘Young persons.’
Section 59 of the Labour Act 2004
General. Register of young persons in industrial undertakings.
(1) No child shall-
(a) be employed or work in any capacity except where he is employed by a member of his family on light work of an agricultural, horticultural or domestic character approved by the Minister; or
(b) be required in any case to lift, carry or move anything so heavy as to be likely to injure his physical development.
(2) No young person under the age of fifteen years shall be employed or work in any industrial undertaking:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to work done by young persons in technical schools or similar institutions if the work is approved and supervised by the Ministry of Education (or corresponding department of government) of a State.
(3) A young person under the age of fourteen years may be employed only-
(a) on a daily wage;
(b) on a day-to-day basis; and
(c) so long as he returns each night to the place of residence of his parents or guardian or a person approved by his parents or guardian:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
(4) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be employed in circumstances in which it is not reasonably possible for him to return each day to the place of residence of his parent or guardian except-
(a) with the approval of an authorized labour officer; and
(b) on a written contract (which, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, shall not be voidable on the ground of incapacity to contract due to infancy) conforming with Part I of this Act:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
(5) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be employed-
(a) to work underground; or
(b) on machine work; or
(c) on a public holiday.
(6) No young person shall be employed in any employment which is injurious to his health, dangerous or immoral; and, where an employer is notified in writing by the Minister (either generally or in any particular case) that the kind of work upon which a young person is employed is injurious to the young person’s health, dangerous, immoral or otherwise unsuitable, the employer shall discontinue the employment, without prejudice to the right of the young person to be paid such wages as he may have earned up to the date of discontinuance.
(7) No person shall continue to employ any young person under the age of sixteen years after receiving notice either orally or in writing from the parent or guardian of the young person that the young person is employed against the wishes of the parent or guardian:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed under a written contract entered into with the approval of an authorized labour officer.
(8) No young person under the age of sixteen years shall be required to work for a longer period than four consecutive hours or permitted to work for more than eight working hours in any one day:
Provided that, save as may be otherwise provided by any regulations made under section 65 of this Act, this subsection shall not apply to a young person employed in domestic service.
Section 60 of the Labour Act 2004
Night work
(1) Subject to this section, no young person shall be employed during the night.
(2) Young persons over the age of sixteen years may be employed during the night in the following industrial undertakings or activities which by reason of the nature of the process are required to be carried on continuously day and night, that is to say-
(a) in the manufacture of iron and steel, in processes in which reverberatory or regeneratory furnaces are used and in the galvanizing of sheet metal or wire (except the pickling process);
(b) glass works;
(c) manufacture of paper;
(d) manufacture of raw sugar; and
(e) gold mining reduction work.
(3) Young persons over the age of sixteen may be employed during the night in cases of emergency which-
(a) could not have been controlled or foreseen;
(b) are not of a periodical character; and
(c) interfere with the normal working of an industrial undertaking.
(4) In this section, “night” means a period of at least twelve consecutive hours, including-
(a) in the case of young persons under the age of sixteen years, the interval between ten o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning; and
(b) in the case of young persons over the age of sixteen years but under the age of eighteen years, a prescribed interval of at least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o’clock in the evening and seven o’clock in the morning.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) (b) of this section, the Minister may prescribe different intervals for different areas, industries, undertakings or branches of industries or undertakings, but shall consult the employers’ and workers’ associations or organizations concerned before prescribing an interval beginning after eleven o’clock in the evening.
Section 61 of the Labour Act 2004
Shipping
(1) No young person under the age of fifteen years shall be employed in any vessel, except where-
(a) the vessel is a school or training vessel and the work on which the young person is employed is-
(i) work of a kind approved by the Minister, and
(ii) supervised by a public officer or by a public department; or
(b) only members of the young person’s family are employed.
(2) No young person shall be employed in a vessel as a trimmer or stoker:
Provided that, where a trimmer or stoker is required in a place in which only young persons are available, young persons of and over the age of sixteen years may be employed in that capacity, so however that two such young persons shall be engaged and employed in the place of each trimmer or stoker required.
(3) No young person shall be employed in any vessel other than a vessel in which only persons of his family are employed unless he is in possession of a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner to the effect that he is fit for the employment or work; and, where such a certificate is issued, then-
(a) subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, the certificate shall be valid for one year from the date of issue, or, if it would otherwise expire in the course of a voyage, until the end of the voyage in question; and
(b) the certificate may at any time be revoked by a qualified medical practitioner if he is satisfied that the young person is no longer fit for the employment or work.
(4) There shall be included in every agreement with the crew of a vessel a list of young persons who are members of the crew, together with particulars of the dates of their births; and, in the case of a vessel in which there is no such agreement, the master shall keep a register (which shall at all times be open to inspection by an authorized labour officer or customs officer) of such young persons as may be employed in the vessel with particulars of the dates of their births and the dates on which they became or ceased to be members of the crew.
(5) In this section-
“customs officer” means any person employed in the Department of Customs and Excise, or for the time being performing duties in relation to customs and excise;
“vessel” includes floating craft of every description except ships of war.
Section 63 of the Labour Act 2004
Regulations
The Minister may make regulations-
(a) exempting any occupation which forms part of an industrial undertaking from all or any of the provisions of sections 59 to 62 of this Act or any regulations made under this section;
(b) providing for the registration and identification of young persons;
(c) prescribing the records to be kept and the returns to be made by employers of young persons;
(d) further restricting the employment of young persons in specified occupations;
(e) prescribing additional conditions upon which young persons may be engaged or employed; and
(f) making further provision for the care of young persons by employers.
Section 64 of the Labour Act 2004
Offences
( 1) Any person who employs a young person in contravention of sections 59 to 62 of this Act or any regulations made under section 63 of this Act, the proprietor, owner and manager of any undertaking in which a young person is so employed and any parent or guardian of a young person who permits the young person to be so employed shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N100.
(2) If in the case of a charge for an offence under subsection (1) of this section it is alleged by the person conducting the prosecution that the person in respect of whom
the offence was committed was under the age of twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen or eighteen years at the date of commission of the alleged offence, the magistrate or other person presiding at the hearing shall, after such enquiry as he may think necessary and after hearing any evidence that may be tendered by any party to the proceedings, determine the age of the young person; and any such determination shall be final.
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