NIGERIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Chinyerugo Ugoji, Tiwalola Osazuwa, Rebecca Ebokpo, Jibrin Dasun, Peretimi Akinmodun, Onyinyechi Chima and Princess Otah, ǼLEX
• the name and address of the worker and the place and date of their engagement; • the nature of the employment; • the date when the contract expires, if the contract is for a fixed term; • the appropriate period of notice to be given by any party wishing to terminate the con - tract; • terms and conditions relating to: (a) hours of work; (b) holidays and holiday pay; and (c) incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provisions for sick pay; and • any special conditions of the contract. There is no statutory requirement in relation to the issuance, form and content of the employ - ment contracts of non-workers/employees. However, in practice, employment contracts are usually concluded in writing. 4.3 Working Time For workers, the Labour Act provides that the hours of work shall be fixed by mutual agree - ment of the parties, collective bargaining within the organisation or industry concerned, or an industrial wages board. Where workers are required to work for six hours or more in a day, they are to be granted rest intervals of not less than one hour in total. In every period of seven days, a worker is to be given one day of rest, which must not be less than 24 consecutive hours; if the rest period is reduced for any reason, the worker is to be granted corresponding time off from work not later than 14 days thereafter, or to be paid wages in lieu at overtime rates. In addition, while the Labour Act stipulates that any hour which a worker is required to work in
excess of the agreed normal hours will consti - tute overtime, it does not make provision for the rate at which wages for overtime hours are to be paid. This will, therefore, be subject to agree - ment by an employer and employee. With respect to non-workers/employees, the working time and overtime hours will be as agreed by the parties and stipulated in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement. In many cases, the normal working hours are eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. 4.4 Termination of Employment Contracts An employment contract may be terminated for a number of reasons, including a breach of con - tract by either party, a mutual agreement by the parties to terminate the contract, misconduct or redundancy. Regardless of the grounds of ter - mination, parties are expected to terminate the contract in the manner prescribed by the Labour Act or the employment contracts, as applica - ble. However, in certain sectors, the consent of a regulator may be required before an employer can terminate any employment contract. In respect of workers, where there is no specific notice period stated in the employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, the following minimum notice periods as set out in the Labour Act will apply: • one day, where the contract has continued for a period of three months or less; • one week, where the contract has continued for more than three months but less than two years; • two weeks, where the contract has continued for a period of two years but less than five years; and
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