Abstract
World over, governmental, industrial, commercial, educational and virtually all types of facilities were shut down in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic. After periods of complete shutdown during which enforced ‘stay at home’ and ‘social distancing’ policies were instilled into the populace, Nigeria has been gradually reopening her markets and work places. The aim of this paper is to contemplate the changes, adjustments and emphases in the Nigerian employment sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as it relates to the employer’s duty to provide a safe work environment. The paper expands on the employers statutory and implied duty of care in the employment relationship. It interrogates the extent of an employer’s liabilities where an employee is infected at the place of work and whether having staff work remotely from home discharges the employer's work safety responsibility. The work also addresses whether there is a legal obligation on the employee to undergo medical tests before resuming work and the employee’s right to privacy of health information. Can an employee be dismissed for disobedience to lawful and reasonable instructions if he refuses to work as a result of the employer’s failure to provide a safe work environment and where said employee resigns, could such resignation be seen as constructive dismissal? In answering these potent questions, references are drawn from relevant statutes, decided cases, the Common Law, the National Policy on Occupational Safety and Health and precedents from foreign jurisdictions. Key Words: Employer’s duty of dare, Covid-19 pandemic, Occupational safety and health law and policy, Employees compensation, Privacy of health information, Contract of employment in Nigeria. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/101-19 Publication date: September 30 th 2020
Highlights
Economies around the globe have contracted in the year 2020 due to the global impact of the corona virus (Covid19) pandemic
Can an employee be dismissed for disobedience to lawful and reasonable instructions if he refuses to work as a result of the employer’s failure to provide a safe work environment and where said employee resigns, could such resignation be seen as constructive dismissal? In answering these potent questions, references are drawn from relevant statutes, decided cases, the Common Law, the National Policy on Occupational Safety and Health and precedents from foreign jurisdictions
The Bill has not scaled through the legislative passage process till date. Another law which requires and regulates occupational health and safety in the general populace is the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA), 2010 which focuses on adequately compensating employees for injuries which occur in the course of employment
Summary
Economies around the globe have contracted in the year 2020 due to the global impact of the corona virus (Covid19) pandemic. A contract of employment is defined in Section 91 of Nigeria’s Labour Act 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 follows that in the event of a dispute, the court is bound to restrict itself to the terms expressly agreed, implied or statutorily required of the parties in determining their respective rights and obligations Employees work in return for payment, which may be in form of an hourly wage, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work or the sector in which the work is done.3It is through the employment contract that reciprocal rights and obligations are created between the employee and the employer. A contract of employment is defined in Section 91 of Nigeria’s Labour Act 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 follows that in the event of a dispute, the court is bound to restrict itself to the terms expressly agreed, implied or statutorily required of the parties in determining their respective rights and obligations
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