Nigerian employers and the lot of their employees

Every organisation is established most importantly for profit making purposes,and in a bid to achieve this,a workforce is needed.

 Which explains why people of varying qualifications suitable for appropriate positions are employed to make the dream of an entrepreneur a reality.

But do you know that more than half of Nigerian employees are presently unhappy with their employers for reasons not far fetched; welfarism oftentimes equal zero.

The Labour Unions which were formed up so that the average 'worker' could be heard and grievances properly harnessed keeps growing in membership, but then the purpose has not yet been achieved, not in its entirety.

 For instance,how many private firms are duly in compliance with the minimum wage currently set by the Federal Government?

Do not forget the fact that some privately owned firms are just a little upgraded slave trade centers.

The inhumane treatment being meted out to their employees is nothing to write home about.

As a matter of fact, companies are supposed to cater for the basic health needs of their employees and their immediate dependants, to performance bonuses, and most importantly effective pension scheme, and  if you're unaware about how  retirees slump on queues to request for their pension then you're probably not a Nigerian.

Gratuity is gradually being phased out of the Nigerian workforce,as long term services are no longer being rewarded.

Another scourge which an average employee seems to battle with is that they live in constant fear of massive retrenchment which are frequently embarked on by companies with Bank officials being the worse hit in recent times.

An unconfirmed report even stated that about 7.9 million Nigerians became unemployed in the last twenty one months (equivalent to the entire population of Bulgaria losing their jobs)

       Meanwhile, unfavorable business environment, harsh Government policies which had made a lot of companies to go into extinct and those still in operation struggling to stay afloat are some of the reasons why employees seems to be at the receiving end, but how about some greedy business owners with good profit inflow yet their staffs are not 'waged' aright.

       A friend once informed me of how a telecommunication company unexpectedly sacked his bosom friend. A young man who had lived all his life in Lagos, and few years into working with the company got married and had kids, after which his employer transfered him to Abuja, a supposedly strange land for him. My friend's account of the story says that the relocation allowance he was given was quite peasant compared to the actual cost he incurred. Yet he relocated as instructed, alongside his nuclear family, rented a decent apartment,registered his kids in school and few months later,he was sacked alongside others by the company who claimed they wanted their workforce reduced and only a thirty days notice was given with just one month salary paid. I was told he almost suffered a mental recluse if not for the immediate members of the family who rallied him

        The only justifiable reason I personally consider appropriate for swift termination of appointment however is fraud/theft. I'm not a party to such an ill, but for other reasons deemed, a bread winner should not be left to wander without anything to fall back on. What happened to due process? Besides, why transfer a man to another state,far from his comfort zone only to get him 'laid-off' after a few months, that's very unfair.
Where is he expected to start from?

      On another note,it is only in this part of the world that an employee would suffer occupational hazards like chopping off of body organs or health degradation caused about by work ethics, yet would be deemed unfit for further 'retainment' by the same  company that rendered him useless.

         And from the little experience I have as an employee from the Educational sector,to the Media,Health and presently the Banking industry, a lot needs to be done on workers welfarism in the country.

             I once had a fair share of 'unfair treatment' from an employer some years ago. Upon my appointment, it was stated in the offer letter that I would be confirmed six months after my probational period if my performance was deemed satisfactory.

 I worked my ass off, combining the position of a sales executive to that of a front desk officer and then a marketer. For over a year,my confirmation letter never came,until after the fifteenth month when it was mailed but backdated to nine months earlier, yet compelled to sign it. 

        All the while they refused confirming my appointment because they were boycotting me from benefitting from some company welfarism,most especially the health care and pension remittance.

Another scourge is the event of companies wanting to keep staffs on contracts and not as full time staffs.

Not with job consulting firms springing up on a daily basis and acting as a link between 'stingy' employers and would-be employees. Owing to the moth of unemployment which had eaten too deep into the system, people are willing to earn much lesser than what they deserved. Job descriptions and what employers are willing to offer as wages is in clear contrast yet a long list of those that are willing to take the offer most times seems long.

  Some commercial banks pay as little as forty five thousand naira ( one hundred and twenty five dollar equivalent) to some of their cashiers as monthly salaries. (Some are recruited via agencies who serves as the link between the Bank and the staffs).

         On another note is the emotional torture employees are subjected to as a result of verbal or sexual abuse.

  Company owners are 'lords' whose right are never to be questioned, and some ladies have had to sleep with CEOs just to keep their jobs.

         An auditor friend from a Nigerian owned microfinance institution once narrated how he had to resign because of the excesses of the CEO of the company where he worked. His monthly salary which was about fifty thousand naira sometimes last year (one hundred and forty dollars equivalent) is subject to further deductions for reasons ranging from 'contributions towards the burial of the CEO's mother' which according to him was about ten thousand naira ( twenty eight dollars), to compulsory annual uniform which employees are compelled to purchase.

 And as if that was not enough, he complained bitterly how they are always being 'talked-down' to  or many times 'cursed' by CEO at the slightest provocation that he hadn't no choice than to resign as he was better off not working than being enslaved under the guise of being an employee.

*Talking about insulting people who are partners in progress and have made your profit making dream a reality,never to be your slaves though.*

And the truth is, for any penny you earn as salary, you have actually generated more than thrice of such an amount as profit to your organisation. Hence a matter of both parties being of benefit to the other and not that of a slave to master relationship. 

Far from it.

Kindly allow me to bore you with the experience of another medical sales representative friend,who confirmed he never gets to go on leave let alone being given a leave allowance.
Who works all round the days contained in a year without breaking down?

Salaries are being slashed without prior notice, some even owe salaries for several months as it is experienced by staffs of a popular media house in Lagos, and it even gets worrisome when some Nigerian State Governments are found wanting  in prompt payment of their worker's salary.

How many employers conduct 'on the job' trainings anymore? Who spends heavily for such a venture they consider a 'frivolity'. Profit is all they live for.

Seemingly poor performers are the worse hit, they are fired like a speed of lighting.

         However, like a soothing balm to too much negativities, another microfinance institution 'wowed' many with his employee welfarism which positively stood out  from the lot.

      A loan officer (a field worker) of the bank was shot by robbers on his way home from work one day, and apart from the fact that he was on admission for over six months, one of his legs thereafter amputated,an average Company cited in Nigeria that I know would have outrightly terminated his appointment. But instead, this German owned company not only took charge of the medical bills, his department was switched from that of a field worker to a back office staff where he performs his duties with the aid of an artificial leg.

    In the real sense of it though, for every job openings,a particular share allotment is supposed to go all out to the physically challenged people, there should be a job description that would best suit their level of deformity.

I know someone would mutter that this is not very feasible, not with what is presently applicable with able bodied men and women who have not yet been fully absorbed into the workforce.

       The modernised slave master under the guise of a Nigerian employer needs his activities checked very incessantly. They usually come in the form of expatriates,or even much wealthier members of the populace who are employers of labour.

To owned companies intermittently managed by 'sane' expatriates hence keeps the interest of their employees at heart, the seeming good welfarism packages degenerates from good to worse as soon as Nigerians begins to rise to the top management level.

Talking about Nigerians being the enemies of themselves yet again.

I'm of the opinion that we need strong labour laws in this country for the benefit of all.

And to company owners, manage employees with conscience and please protect their fundamental human rights.

It's very necessary.