Employment and Labour Law Experts Seek Development in Practice Area
Employment and labour law experts and other stakeholders, have stressed the need for development in the area of practice.
The experts including Professor Chioma Agomo, Head, Department of Commercial and Industrial Law, and former Dean, Faculty of Law, Unilag, Presiding Judge, Lagos Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Benedict Kanyip, Chairman, Employment, Labour & Industrial Relations Committee of the Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association (ELIR) Committee, Mr. Anthony Nwaochei, made this call at the National Seminar of ELIR, held last week at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Seminar with the theme, “Employment & Industrial Relations: A Changing Landscape”, which featured a rich faculty of experts in employment and industrial relations law and practice, was attended by over a hundred stakeholders.
Justice Benedict Kanyip led the panel discussants, comprising of Judges, Lawyers, human resource executives, and members of the academia amongst others.
Setting the tone for the discourse with the topic, ‘General Overview of the Changing Face of Employment Law & Industrial Relations in Nigeria and other Jurisdictions’, the lead Speaker, Professor Chioma Agomo in her lead paper, provided a general overview of the changing face of employment law and industrial relations in Nigeria and other jurisdictions.
Professor Agomo’s paper was followed by three very exciting sessions, that kept participants glued to their seats till the end of the program.
Topical issues discussed by the panelists at the very interactive sessions, included “Emerging trends in labour litigation”, “Employment Relations in an era of Global Economic Uncertainty” and “Coping with changing Dynamics in the Workplace”, the latter of which resonated with the millennials who were present at the event.
Earlier In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the ELIR Committee, Mr. Anthony Nwaochei, noted that labour and industrial relations have become more critical when viewed against the backdrop of current economic challenges in Nigeria, brought about by the onset of an economic recession last year.
"Nigeria, like other countries of the world that have been affected by a global slowdown in economic growth, is faced with the challenge of supporting and promoting business activities of employers, in order to stimulate the economy on the one-hand, while ensuring at the same time, that the rights of employees and every person who provides labour in any form, is protected", he said.
According to Nwaochei, the last few years have seen major employers of labour restructure their organisations, in order to stay afloat, which in certain instances, has led to down-sizing and substantial job losses. These, he said, have concomitantly resulted in an increasing number of disputes between employers and employees, as their Lordships present at the Seminar, could attest to.
Nwaochei thus, posed a question to the panel of discussants, as to whether Nigeria's labour laws, policies and practices, evolved with the changing landscape.
He noted that, there exists a school of though, which holds the view that Nigeria labour laws, particularly the Labour Act which came into force over 40 years ago, are outdated and do not serve our current needs, while others are of the view that with the 3rd alteration to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the application of international best practices by the National Industrial Court in adjudicating disputes brought before it, case law is gradually bridging the perceived gap between our labour and employment related legislation, and best practices all over the world.
Stakeholders at the event thus, engaged in very constructive panel discussions, shedding light on emerging trends in the employment and industrial relations space, and its effect on employer-employee relationships.
The Employment & Industrial Relations Committee, is one of 20 specialist commit- tees of the Section on Business Law, which were established to enhance commercial law practice amongst Nigerian Lawyers. You will no doubt, agree with me, that labour and the employment relationship, is an integral part of commercial activities, as we know them today.
The core objectives of the committee are two-fold; to deepen the capacity and knowledge of Lawyers and all stakeholders on employment law and practices as they stand in Nigeria today, and to positively influence as much as possible, legislation and policies relating to or affecting labour, employment and industrial relations.