Nigeria - Minimum Wages - 2011

26 August 2011.

Labour Act,
Decree No. 21 of 1974, dated 29 May 1974 (Official Gazette, No. 28, Supplement, 6 June 1974), as amended up to 31 December 1989 (Official Gazette, 1989).

National Minimum Wage Act,
of 1981 (Official Gazette, 1981, A53-57) as amended to 2000, Act No. 1 (Official Gazette, 2000).

National Minimum Wage Act amendment 2011.

"worker" means any person who has entered into or works under a contract with an employer, whether the contract is for manual labour or clerical work or is expressed or implied or oral or written, and whether it is a contract of service or a contract personally to execute any work or labour, but does not include-
(a) any person employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer’s business, or
(b) persons exercising administrative, executive, technical or professional functions as public officers or otherwise, or
(c) members of the employer’s family, or
(d) representatives, agents and commercial travellers in so far as their work is carried on outside the permanent workplace of the employer’s establishment; or
(e) any person to whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired or adapted for sale in his own home or on other premises not under the control or management of the person who gave out the articles or the material; or
(f) any person employed in a vessel or aircraft to which the laws regulating merchant shipping or civil aviation apply;

Means any member of the civil service or any individual who has entered into an employment contract with an employer whether for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise expressed or implied, oral or in writing.

"wages" means remuneration or earnings (however designated or calculated) capable of being expressed in terms of money and fixed by mutual agreement or by law which are payable by virtue of a contract by an employer to a worker for work done or to be done or for services rendered or to be rendered;

A national minimum wage is determined by the government. The National Minimum Wage Act, 1981 does not set forth which organs should be consulted when minimum wage rates are set by the Government. In 2000, when the national minimum wage rate was updated, an ad-hoc tripartite committee was formed to facilitate discussions on the new rate.

Wages may also be as determined in collective agreements. However, if an enterprise has not been excluded from the scope of the National Minimum Wages Act, the wages set in the collective agreement may not be less than the national minimum wage.

The legislation does not set forth the criteria to be followed when setting the national minimum wage rate.

National minimum wage rates apply to every worker (any member of the civil service of the Federation or of a State or Local Government or any individual who has entered into or works under a contract for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise) with the exception of the excluded categories (see below).

National minimum wage rates do not apply to
· Part-time workers (working fewer than 40 hours per week);
· Workers paid on commission or piece-rate basis;
· Workers in seasonal employment such as agriculture; and
· Workers in merchant shipping or civil aviation.

National minimum wage rates do not apply to workers in merchant shipping or civil aviation.

National minimum wage rates do not apply to establishments employing fewer than 50 workers.

No

No

No

Persons who have an infirmity or physical disability that renders them incapable of earning the minimum wage may be paid at a rate that is lower than the national minimum wage rate, provided their employer has been granted an exemption by the Minister of Labour with respect to that worker.

Part time workers are specifically excluded from the National Minimum Wage Act, 1981.

As from the commencement of this Act, it shall be the duty of every employer (except as provided for under the principal Act as amended) to pay a wage not less than the national minimum wage of N 18,000.00 per month to every worker under his establishment

15 March 2011.

The Labour Act provides that an employer may provide food, a dwelling place or any other allowance or privilege as a part of a workers’ remuneration if it is prescribed by law, collective agreement or arbitration award, because it is customary or desirable in view of the nature of the industry or occupation in which the worker is engaged.

Yes

As from the commencement of this Act, it shall be the duty of every employer (except as provided for under the principal Act as amended) to pay a wage not less than the national minimum wage of N 18,000.00 per month to every worker under his establishment

The legislation does not set forth how frequently minimum wage rates should be reviewed.

(1) The Minister may authorise any officer in the civil service of the Federation to act for the purpose of this Act; and every authorised labour officer within the meaning of the Labour Act shall be deemed to have been so authorised.
(2) Every authorised officer shall be furnished with a certificate of this authority and when visiting an employer’s premises for the purposes of this Act shall, if so required, produce the certificate to the employer or other person holding a responsible position of management at the said premises.
(3) An authorised officer may -
a) require the production by an employer of wages sheets or other records of wages and records of conditions of employment, and inspect and examine them and copy any part thereof;
b) order any person or body of persons found to have contravened any of the provisions of this Act to take remedial action within a specified period of time; and
c) subject generally to the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation, institute proceedings for any offence under this Act and, if he so wishes appear and have all the necessary powers for the conduct of the proceedings.
(4) An officer who is authorised in that behalf by general or special directions of the Minister may, if it appears to him that a sum is due from an employer to a worker to whom this Act applies, or to a person who has been such a worker, on account of the payment to him of wages less than the national minimum wage may institute on behalf and in the name of that worker or person civil proceeding s for the recovery of that sum, and in any such proceedings the court may make an order for the payment of costs by the authorised officer as if he were a party to the proceedings.
(5) The power given by subsection (4) of this section for the recovery of a sum due from an employer to a worker or other person shall not be in derogation of any right of that worker or other person himself to recover that sum by civil proceedings.

An employer, who fails to pay a worker at least the national minimum wage rate, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N 20,000.00. If the offence continues, the employer shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N 100 for each day the offence continues.

It shall be the duty of the employer of workers in respect of whom this Act applies to keep such records of wages or conditions of employment as are necessary to show that the provisions of this Act are being complied with in respect of workers in his employment, and to retain the records for a period of three years after the period to which they refer, and if he fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N 20,000.00 and to a penalty not exceeding N 1000 for each day during which the offence continues.

On the conviction of an employer under this section for failing to pay to a worker wages not less than the national minimum wage, the court may make an order that the employer convicted shall pay, in addition to the fine, such sum as apperas to the court to be due to the worker on account of wages, the wages being calculated on the basis of the national minimum wage:
Provided that the power to order payment on account of wages under this subsection shall not be in derogation of the right of the worker to recover wages due to hum by any other proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction.