Raising the Standard of Casual labour ; A path to promoting decent work

All employment relationships in the informal sector or a formal sector with a temporary or seasonal employment contract or a part-time formal sector employee is tagged as ‘Casual Employment’. Other names for casual labour include; Non-Standard Work Arrangement, Contingent Work, Dispensable Work, part time work, Temporary Employment, Multi-party, Contract staffing. The International Labour Organization refer to it as the “new forms of employment” Broadly Divided into Temporary employment, part-time work, temporary agency work and other forms of employment involving multiple parties, disguised employment relationships and dependent self-employment. This grouping reflects a progression in this kind of employment. The Casual System of casual work has evolved to platform workers and freelancers who deserves a viable legal framework for protection.

Globally, employers of Labour adopt a Casual Employment for three main reasons; Flexibility of staffing, Reduction of costs and Ease of dismissal.

For employees; Casualization of jobs associated with greater insecurity and poor working condition compared to the Standard Employment Relationship.

The down side of casual job, especially in the skilled and formal sector of the economy include the following;

• Under-investment in innovation and skill development
• Stunted growth and productivity
• Lack of sustainable social security systems,
• Increased volatility in labour markets
• Poor Social Protection
• Workplace Discrimination
• Poor economic performance.

On the flip side, Casual Work, however, can also be seen as responding to workers’ needs for flexibility, allowing them to adapt their work depending on their personal and family circumstances, as well as enabling companies to adjust the workforce according to the demands of business activity. From this perspective, these employment relations may be viewed as ‘win–win’ situation.

For the purpose of employment and skill development, casual employment provides a foot in the door platform for the reception of talents into the labour market.

According to the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development, the drive to increase the flexibility of labour markets has resulted in the growth of non-standard forms of work, which now account for one-third of total employment.

In Africa, the most widespread form of temporary employment is casual employment. One in four employees is casual in Kenya, more than one in three in Zimbabwe and Mali. Temporary employment in general reaches nearly 60 per cent in Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania, and is particularly high in rural areas. The growth of one specific form – fixed-term contracts – has been observed in the past few years on two opposing ends of the continent: Morocco and South Africa.

Nigeria is not without a fair share of Non-Standard Employment Arrangements. According fourth quarter (Q4) 2020 statistics report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled: ‘Labour Force Statistics: Unemployment and Underemployment- About 67% of Nigerians are employed in Casual employment and about 80% of employees in the Banking sector are Casual workers.

The outbreak of COVID19 Pandemic contributed to a global surge in casual employment as employers of labour strive to adjust to the new economic realities and the need to survive the turbulent times.

Casualization is therefore, part of a new era of the management of labour. It is an era which fits many workers into the needs of production and service provision by offering only very limited choices to workers. There is no doubt, casual employment (also known as Non-Standard Work Arrangement (NSWA) is undertaken in Nigeria majorly because most Employees in this category do not have other viable alternative. Half Bread is Better than None- Says the Proverb.

The hard reality is that Casual workers are filling positions that are permanent in nature. This depicts the high level of employee vulnerability in Nigeria and accompanying poverty.

Policy & The Law- The Nigerian Dilemma

One of the most adopted modes for engaging of casual workers in Nigeria is through labour recruiters or contractors who employs for the benefit of the End Users who should ordinarily be the Employer in a standard employment relationship and take full responsibility for the welfare of these category of employees. The National Industrial Court of Nigeria recognized this relationship as a Tripartite arrangement and also recognize the End Users as the Employers of Labour.

The National Assembly is keen on amending the Nigerian Labour Act to prohibit and criminalize the casualization of workers after six months of engagement.

Toeing a divergent path, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment issued sectorial guidelines on administration of contract staffing and outsourcing in the Oil/ Gas and Financial Sector, namely; - Guidelines on Labour Administration Issues in Contract Staffing/Outsourcing in the Oil and Gas Sector in May 2011 and Guidelines on Labour Administration Issues in contract Staffing/Outsourcing, Non-permanent Workers in Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions in September 2022.

These Guidelines were designed to accommodate the realities in the Nigerian Oil/Gas and the Banking Sector and provide regulations aimed at protecting workers in this category by providing alternative measures to fully integrate contract staff into a system of decent work. The Labour recruiters or contractors are recognized as employers of labour and the guideline imposes the employment responsibility on them. A burden that is often avoided in a disguised or tripartite employment arrangement. ?Employees in this category are paid ridiculous wages with little or no work benefit and can be discharged abruptly by their Employers. A due implementation of these guidelines and adoption by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria will set the pace for creating a minimum standard of work in Nigeria.

The guidelines made provisions for the following;

• Minimum Wage standard for this category of workers in the financial sector
• Job Entry requirements and a path to Career Progression
• Implementation of annual salary increments for all categories of employees;
• The capacity to form and join trade unions empowered to negotiate favourable working condition and reduce exposure to poorer working conditions, hazards, and fatigue peculiar casual labour.

Admissions and Global recommendation

• According to the ILO, workers in new forms of employment may be exposed to risks of decent work deficits
• Abuse of casual work arrangements pushes casual workers further towards precariousness and poverty and making the voice of casual workers heard remains a challenge, as intermediary bodies – like trade unions – are not always able to address issues that they consider beyond their immediate concerns.
• Workers in new forms of employment are faced with restrictions in the exercise of the right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. ?
• ?ILO further recognizes that work can have varied contractual forms and that the goal is not to make all work standard, but rather to make all work decent. Rather than an attempt to criminalize casual labour, Government policies should be targeted at creating a minimum standard of work with the necessary mechanism to enforce compliance. Government should come up with regulations on casualization or non-standard work so that citizens are not subjected to slavery. This recommendation is consistent with global approach to advancing social justice and promoting decent work.

Nations of the world are encouraged to promote decent work by;

• Providing adequate required to balance workers’ protection with businesses’ need for flexibility for employers of labour.
• Effective Monitoring and enforcement of is germane to prevent abuse regulation is implemented is crucial to avoiding abuse.
• Sensitizing workers on basic employment rights
• Facilitation of Employee representation and collective bargaining for better condition of work.

References

• Conclusions of the ILO Meeting of Experts on Non-standard Forms of Employment February 2015
• Guidelines on Labour Outsourcing: A Guide to Best Practices in Nigeria? Templars Publication 14th December, 2022.
• Isabella Biletta -Casual work: Characteristics and implication- European Foundation for Improvement of living and working conditions- Eurofound (2019), Casual work: Characteristics and implications, New forms of employment series, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
• Mariya Aleksynska & Friederike Eberlein- Coverage of employment protection legislation- Mariya Aleksynska, Friederike Eberlein. Condition of Work and Employment Series No 80. 2016.
• Non-Standard Employment Around The World; Understanding challenges, shaping prospects. International Labour Organization Publication 2016.
• OECD, 2015, p. 138) ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) (2015), Three sides to every story: The impact of The Agency Worker Regulations, Employment Relations Comment, London
• Okafor E. Emeka & Rasak, Bamidele-Casual Employment - A Nostrum to unemployment in Nigeria. -Fountain Journal of Management and Social Sciences: 2015. ?
• Protecting Workers in New Forms of Employment. Paper prepared for the BRICS Employment Working Group meeting under China’s Presidency. Published April, 2022.