Section 7-12 of the Nigerian Labour Act 2004

Section 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 of the Nigerian Labour Act 2004 is under Part I (General Provisions as to protection of wages, contracts of employment and terms and conditions of employment) of the act, and collectively titled ‘Contracts of employment‘.

Section 7 of the Labour Act 2004

Written particulars of terms of employment

(1) Not later than three months after the beginning of a worker’s period of employment with an employer, the employer shall give to the worker a written statement specifying-
(a) the name of the employer or group of employers, and where appropriate, of the undertaking by which the worker is employed;
(b) the name and address of the worker and the place and date of his engagement;
(c) the nature of the employment;
(d) if the contract is for a fixed term, the date when the contract expires;
(e) the appropriate period of notice to be given by the party wishing to terminate the contract, due regard being had to section 11 of this Act;
(f) the rates of wages and method of calculation thereof and the manner and periodicity of payment of wages;
(g) any terms and conditions relating to-
(i) hours of work, or
(ii) holidays and holiday pay, or
(iii) incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provisions for sick pay; and
(h) any special conditions of the contract.

(2) If after the date to which the said statement relates there is a change in the terms to be included or referred to in the statement the employer-
(a) shall, not more than one month after the change, inform the worker of the nature of the change by a written statement; and
(b) if he does not leave a copy of the statement with the worker, shall preserve the statement and ensure that the worker has reasonable opportunities of reading it in the course of his employment, or that it is made reasonably accessible to the worker in some other way.

(3) A statement under subsection (1) or (2) of this section may, for all or any of the particulars to be given by the statement, refer the worker to some other document which the worker has reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his employment or which is made reasonably accessible to the worker in some other way.
(4) If the employer, in referring in the said statement to any such document, indicates to the worker that future changes in the terms particularized in the document will be entered in the document (or recorded by some other means for the information of persons referred to in the document), the employer need not under subsection (2) of this section inform the worker of any such change which is duly entered or recorded not more than one month after the change is made.

(5) If, not more than six months after the termination of a worker’s period of employment, a further period of employment is begun with the same employer and the terms of employment are the same, no statement need be given under subsection (1) of this section in respect of the second period of employment, so however that this subsection shall be without prejudice to the operation of subsection (2) of this section if there is a change in the terms of employment.
(6) The provisions of this section in respect of written statements shall not apply if-
(a) a worker has a written contract of employment which covers each of the particulars mentioned in subsection (1) of this section; and
(b) he has a copy of that written contract.

Section 8 of the Labour Act 2004

Medical examination

(1) Every worker who enters into a contract shall be medically examined by a registered medical practitioner at the expense of the employer.
(2) The State Authority may by order exempt for the requirement of medical examination workers entering into contracts for-
(a) employment in agricultural undertakings not employing more than a limited number of workers (the limit being specified in the order); or
(b) employment in the vicinity of the workers’ homes-
(i) in agricultural work, or
(ii) in non-agricultural work which the State Authority is satisfied is not of a dangerous character or likely to be injurious to the health of the workers.

Section 9 of the Labour Act 2004

Contracts: general

(1) No contract shall be deemed to be binding on the family or dependants of a worker unless it contains an express provision to that effect.
(2) An employer shall be responsible for the performance of any contract made by any person acting on his behalf.

(3) Except in the case of a contract of apprenticeship, no person under the age of sixteen years shall be capable of entering into a contract of employment under this Act.
(4) No contract shall provide for the payment of wages at intervals exceeding one month unless the written consent of the State Authority has been previously obtained.

(5) No worker shall be bound by virtue of any contract under this Act to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of any other person.
(6) No contract shall-
(a) make it a condition of employment that a worker shall or shall not join a trade union or shall or shall not relinquish membership of a trade union; or
(b) cause the dismissal of, or otherwise prejudice, a worker-
(i) by reason of trade union membership, or
(ii) because of trade union activities outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours, or
(iii) by reason of the fact that he has lost or been deprived of membership of a trade union or has refused or been unable to become, or for any other reason is not, a member of a trade union.

(7) A contract shall be terminated-
(a) by the expiry of the period for which it was made; or
(b) by the death of the worker before the expiry of that period; or
(c) by notice in accordance with section 11 of this Act or in any other way in which a contract is legally terminable or held to be terminated.
(8) The termination of a contract by the death of a worker shall be without prejudice to the legal claims of his personal representatives or dependants.

Section 10 of the Labour Act 2004

Transfer to other employment

(1) The transfer of any contract from one employer to another shall be subject to the consent of the worker and the endorsement of the transfer upon the contract by an authorized labour officer.

(2) Before endorsing the transfer upon the contract, the officer in question-
(a) shall ascertain that the worker has freely consented to the transfer and that his consent has not been obtained by coercion or undue influence or as a result of misrepresentation or mistake; and
(b) if by the transfer the worker will-
(i) change his form of employment from one which is the subject of an exemption order made under section 8 (2) of this Act, or
(ii) be subject to such a change of conditions as in the officer’s opinion renders such a course advisable, may require the worker to be medically examined or re-examined, as the case may be.

Section 11 of the Labour Act 2004

Termination of contracts by notice

(1) Either party to a contract of employment may terminate the contract on the expiration of notice given by him to the other party of his intention to do so.
(2) The notice to be given for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section shall be-
(a) one day, where the contract has continued for a period of three months or less;
(b) one week, where the contract has continued for more than three months but less than two years;
(c) two weeks, where the contract has continued for a period of two years but less than five years; and
(d) one month, where the contract has continued for five years or more.

(3) Any notice for a period of one week or more shall be in writing.
(4) The periods of notice specified in subsection (2) of this section exclude the day on which notice is given.
(5) Nothing in this section affects any right of either party to a contract to treat the contract as terminable without notice by reason of such conduct by the other party as would have enabled him so to treat it before the making of this Act.

(6) Nothing in this section shall prevent either party to a contract from waiving his right to notice on any occasion, or from accepting a payment in lieu of notice.
(7) All wages payable in money shall be paid on or before the expiry of any period of notice.
(8) If an employer gives notice to terminate the contract of employment of a worker who has been continuously employed for three months or more, the employer shall not be liable under this section to make any payment in respect of a period during which the worker is absent from work with the leave of the employer granted at the request of the worker.
(9) In the calculation of .a payment in lieu of notice, only that part of the wages which a worker receives in money, exclusive of overtime and other allowances, shall be taken into account.

Section 12 of the Labour Act 2004

Common employment not a defence

(1) It shall not be a defence to an employer who is sued in respect of personal injuries caused by the negligence of a person employed by him, that person was, at the time the injuries were caused, in common employment with the person injured.

(2) Any provisions contained in a contract of service or apprenticeship, or in an agreement collateral thereto (including a contract or agreement entered into before the commencement of this section) shall be void in so far as it would have the effect of
excluding or limiting any liability of the employer in respect of personal injuries caused to the person employed or apprenticed by the negligence of persons m common employment with him.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the expression “personal injuries” includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition arising out of his employment, and “injury” and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.

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