It may soon be a crime for employers not to enrol their workers under the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said.
The Fund said it is considering moving away from its present persuasive approach to improve the welfare of workers and safety at the workplace.
In the same vein, the Fund has called for stronger legal backing, which will lead to the review of enforcement provisions on the Employees Compensation Act (ECA) to increase penalties for defaulters.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Fund, Oluwaseun Faleye, stated this while speaking at the annual Labour Correspondents Association of Nigeria (LACAN) conference in Abuja.
In a paper, ‘Employees’ Compensation Enforcement: Issues and Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry’, the NSITF’s boss said that in the oil and gas industry, where operations involve high capital, complex processes and significant occupational hazards, the protection of workers through a strong and enforceable compensation mechanism is not only a statutory obligation, but a moral duty and an ethical necessity.
“The Employees’ Compensation Act of 2010 was a bold, visionary step by the government to protect Nigerian workers against the hazards of their occupations. It replaced the old Workmen’s Compensation regime with a no-fault, employer-funded social insurance system, a safety-net against deprivation and income insecurity. In the oil and gas sector, Nigeria’s economic mainstay, this mandate takes on an even deeper urgency. Here, the risks are higher, the stakes greater, and the consequences of neglect, often devastating,” he stated.
Providing insight into the challenges of enforcement in the sector, Faleye enumerated non-compliance and evasion, outsourcing and casualisation of workers, low awareness and weak sanctions, as well as poor safety culture in the sector.
To combat these challenges, the Managing Director disclosed that the Fund had instituted numerous reforms, including periodic inspection of employers’ records and documents, digitalisation of registration and remittance processes, simplification of claims and compensation process, aggressive engagements with stakeholders, inter-agency collaborations and Safety and health measures to prevent workplace hazards.
Going forward, Faleye called for a review of enforcement provisions in the ECA to increase penalties for defaulters.
He further advocated mandating ECS compliance as a precondition for licensing or renewal, and a unified labour data system for seamless monitoring.
In addition, he recommended empowerment of labour inspectors through training and resourcing to penetrate even the most remote installations and naming and shaming of defaulters.
The Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) 2010 established the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS) with and saddled the NSITF with the mandate of providing fair and adequate compensation, reorientation, and rehabilitation for workers and dependents of workers and dependents of workers who suffer injuries, diseases, disabilities, and death in the course of work in exchange for payment of one percent Employees’ salaries by the employer.
In the meantime, the two major domestic workers’ unions in the NSITF – Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) and the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) – have thrown their weight behind the current management team of the Fund.
In a letter to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammadu Dingyadi, which was signed jointly by the President, ASSBIFI, its General Secretary and their counterparts in NUBIFIE, the unions commended Dingyadi for his efforts in ensuring a sustainable work environment and his untiring efforts at entrenching decent work value and workers’ participation in national development.
The unions also commended the management’s ability to drive positive change and ensure that the Fund’s resources are utilised effectively.
