Absence of proper regulations has been identified as a major factor affecting the effective practice of outsourcing in Nigeria.

The sector, which has huge prospects for economic growth and development, could make Nigeria become the next outsourcing hub, The Guardian checks revealed.

Investigations revealed that Nigeria currently has no national laws or specific regulations on outsourcing transactions.

The Guardian gathered that contracts are mostly interpreted and governed by the common law of contract.

For the sector to gain global recognition, stakeholders are of the view that promoting standardisation and regulation of the sector remain imperative for sectoral growth.

They argued that the sector, with a global market worth about $85 billion, could be of benefit to Nigeria.

However, with all its prospects, many are of the view that the sector has been underperforming in terms of contracting employment opportunities to third parties.

Many job seekers, who gained employment opportunities through outsourcing agencies, have lamented how they were cheated directly or indirectly through limited benefits when compared to full-time employees.

They lamented that they lack job security, earn meagre entitlements and more painful is that their salaries are divided almost equally with their employers (outsourcing agencies).

They argued that outsourcing firms have taken advantage of the unemployment rate of the country to enrich themselves, milking employees of their benefits.

The Guardian gathered that while they relate with various employers to provide cheap labour for big companies operating in Nigeria, for every employee, they collect as much as 40 to 50 per cent of the amount due to them monthly.

For instance, in the banking sector, where the practice is high, the least paid is between N50,000 and N80,000, while it is thrice the amount for a regular employee.

An outsourced staff from one of the major banks, who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity, highlighted some of the gaps between direct employees and them, even when they carry out the same task on a daily basis.

He said a direct staff is entitled to participate in professional courses that aid career development and lotteries.

He said an organisation’s growth in terms of profit realised from the high performance of its workers is based on quality contributions of both direct and outsourced staff, but when profit sharing is rewarded to direct staffs, outsourced workers are usually left out.

On some of the risks, he lamented that there are lots of negative psychological effects experienced by outsourced workers.

According to him, many find it difficult to save as transportation and the cost of feeding have eroded the bulk of salaries.

He mentioned that most of them usually experience low self-esteem among their fellow workers, feel demoralised, have negative thoughts of engaging in fraud, do not have access to career development and see the job as access to work slavery.

“Citing these issues, this is a call for labour unions to look into this demoralising situation faced by two sets of individuals in an organisation with the same qualification, the same job task, the same hour of work, the same expectations but yet a huge difference in terms of benefits because one is an outsourced worker.

“These companies can as well recruit the outsourced workers themselves and provide for the quality pay that suits them better,” he said.

Already, President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), Anthony Abakpa, had bemoaned outsourcing practices.

He described outsourcing of workers as a way of holding on to people’s destiny, as they wouldn’t get any terminal benefit at the end of the day, unlike regular workers.

When The Guardian reached out to the President of the Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN), Dr. Obiora Madu, he said what the profession lacked was regulations.

According to him, there is no law guiding Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

He added sanctions await outsourcing companies indulging in practices that contravene the ethics of the profession.

He said outsourcing companies involved in cutting down workers’ salaries are not part of them but contractors and those found wanting would be sanctioned, accordingly.

For the banks, where the menace is high, he said they outsource because of an attempt to run away from contingency and incidental expenses like medicals.

He said: “In our association, we insist on the right thing being done. If we get any information, that organisation would be sanctioned. Any outsourcing firm taking more than half of the worker’s salary is not observing best practices.

“Regulation is what will solve the problem. Any organisation doing such should be blacklisted.

“For AOPN, we have e-verify for employees that are sacked by outsourcing companies. They are listed on that platform. If you are recruiting, they go there to check if someone has been sacked and they remove the person from the recruitment process.”

On making outsourced workers enjoy equal pay with member staff, he added, “There is no law guiding SLAs. Even in Ghana, there is a law. You can sign an agreement with the principal like 17 per cent, they can call to say they are reducing it to five per cent, that is not what SLAs are.

“They are agreements between two parties, who ask you for a job and pay you accordingly to the agreed price, not midway you now reduce the rate. That cannot happen when you have a proper framework. If you do it I will sue you and they will tell you if you are not willing to take it someone outside is ready to take it. All these are happening due to lack of regulation.”