Analysis · Employment & Labour
Nine clauses decide most workplace disputes. Here is what each one does, and the questions to ask before anyone signs.
Published · 8 min read
Nigerian employment law draws on the Labour Act, on the general law of contract, and on the terms the parties themselves agree. For employees outside the Labour Act's definition of a worker, much of the relationship is governed by the contract itself.
That is why disputes so often turn on wording that nobody read carefully at the start. The clauses below are the ones that decide most of them.
Identify the actual employing entity, not a trading name or a group brand. Where a group has several companies, the one named in the contract is the one an employee would sue and the one that carries the obligations.
The role description sets the boundary of what can reasonably be required. A clause allowing duties to be varied is normal; one allowing unlimited unilateral variation of the entire contract is worth questioning.
The contract should state gross pay, when it is paid, and what is deducted. The Labour Act restricts the deductions an employer may make from wages, and a clause permitting deductions at large does not override that.
Separate what is contractual from what is discretionary. A bonus described as discretionary is generally not an entitlement; one expressed as a formula usually is.
Working hours, overtime treatment, annual leave, public holidays, sick pay and maternity provisions belong in the document. Where statute sets a minimum, the contract can improve on it but cannot cut below it for those the statute covers.
Confidentiality clauses survive the end of employment. Intellectual property clauses decide who owns work created during it — an issue that matters far beyond technology businesses.
Post-termination restraints are the most contested. Nigerian courts examine restraints of trade closely, and a restriction that is wider than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest — in duration, geography or scope of activity — risks being unenforceable.
Notice periods, payment in lieu, summary dismissal for gross misconduct, and any probation terms should be explicit and reciprocal. So should the practical afterwards: return of property, final pay, references, and what happens to accrued leave.
Read the termination clause before signing, not when it is being used. It is the clause whose meaning you will care about most and be least able to negotiate.
Keep reading
Twelve fundamental rights sit in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution. We take each one in turn, in plain language, with the everyday situations where it matters most.
You collect phone numbers to confirm orders. Does the NDP Act 2023 apply to you? What it asks of an organisation, without the compliance jargon.
Governors hold land in trust. That single principle explains consent requirements, certificates of occupancy and much of what buyers find confusing.
