What is it about?
The Nigerian employee's compensation scheme has greatly improved but still not providing the needed respite for injured workers and dependants of deceased employees. The paper highlights areas calling for attention in the current employee's compensation law In Nigeria. In doing this, the paper made references to the compensation scheme in the United Kingdom which presents some innovations that will enhance the Nigerian scheme if adopted.
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Why is it important?
The paper is very apt at this moment when there is upsurge of labour flight from Nigeria to foreign countries, especially the United Kingdom as experience has shown that most workers are abandoning their jobs in Nigeria to take lesser jobs in the UK because of the favourable condition of service and enhanced pay.
Perspectives
I am of the view that the Nigerian employees compensation scheme should be overhauled. This 15 years of the application of the ECA yet the number of employees covered by the scheme is still insignificant. This is because implementation is weak. If the penal provisions of the ECA are strictly enforced, more employers will register their workers and remit their mandatory contributions under the scheme. The Judiciary also needs to give preference to work injury claim over general tort of negligence as it is in the UK. Work related injury claims are in the form of insurance claims in Nigeria and should be given priority. Besides, the amount due under ECA should be reviewed to make it more attractive to workers. More people are still engaging the Court for award of compensation under the ECA because they feel that the awards under the ECA are not usually enough to restore them to the pre-accident state or something close.
BROWN UMUKORO
Delta State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Employee’s compensation scheme in Nigeria: a comparison of two legal regimes, International Journal of Law and Management, July 2025, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/ijlma-11-2024-0417.
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