Towards achieving equality in the Nigerian workplace: with a focus on women, persons living with disabilities and ethnic minorities

Includes bibliographical references.Discrimination has long been a part of recruitment and employment generally. According to Painter and Puttick, discrimination is a well-established feature of employment. Despite this, the move towards the introduction of antidiscrimination legislation to combat this menace in the workplace is almost nonexistent in Nigeria. Though Nigeria has been independent for more than four decades, there has been no significant improvement in her labour laws. Different categories of people are still being discriminated against based on sex, gender, age, physical characteristics, disability and other analogous characteristics

The impact of socio-legal inequality on women in the Nigerian domestic work sector

This article examines the impact of socio-legal inequality on the work conditions of female domestic workers in Nigeria. Domestic work is an important aspect of productive labour and an indispensable factor that contributes to the well-being of households and the economy. However, domestic workers face challenges that are multidimensional and gendered; they are often victims of physical and sexual abuse, and experience discrimination concerning pay, working conditions, and legal rights

Covid-19 pandemic, a war to win: Assessing its impact on the domestic work sector in Nigeria

This article examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work conditions of domestic workers in Nigeria. We use four indi-cators – earnings, access to social protection, working conditions and labour protections to provide a nuanced assessment on the impact of the pandemic on domestic workers. Domestic work is an important aspect of productive labour and an indispensable factor that contributes to the well-being of households and the economy. Indeed, the enormous contribution of this sector to societies has been further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while domestic workers are lauded as essential workers, their work remains extremely vulnerable to exploitation and human rights violations, and the pandemic has aggravated this situation

Domestic Workers in South Africa: Inclusion Under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act

After decades of deliberate exclusion from labour laws and social protection in South Africa, domestic workers have slowly been able to taste the fruits of years of laborious fights for recognition, inclusion, and dignity. On 19 November 2020, the Constitutional Court ordered the inclusion of domestic workers in the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). This marked another victory for domestic workers. Textual inclusion is a relatively easier feat compared to the real challenge of implementation to give effect to such inclusion. The monitoring of implementation and progress of domestic workers who have benefitted from this inclusion has been relatively underexplored. This study explores the progress made in the development of social protection following the recent inclusion of domestic workers in COIDA, together with the implementation of this law. The article uses desktop research to investigate barriers to the development and implementation of social protection in the domestic work sector. The article highlights the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, clear policies from the Department of Labour, and the provision of constructive support for employers in the domestic work sector to facilitate compliance with COIDA

The Fairwork Foundation: Strategies for improving platform work in a global context

This paper introduces the Fairwork Foundation, a research initiative that is also developing an intervention around the quality of work on digital labour platforms. Lacking the ability to collectively bargain, many platform workers have little ability to negotiate wages or working conditions with their employers. As a result of this new, digitally-managed market for work, many workers have jobs characterised by long and irregular hours, low income, and high stress. Fairwork's field research across India and South Africa finds challenges for workers across a range of issues which form the basis for a set of decent work principles on: pay, conditions, contracts, management, and representation. The results of the field research are being used to rank and compare platforms against these principles as a means to encourage decent, and discourage ‘un-decent’ platform work

COVID-19 and Labour Law: Kenya

The Kenyan government has implemented some measures to counter the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and labour market. However, the most significant shortcoming lies in the lack of targeted protection for the informal economy. The national curfew and partial lockdown –in some areas –disrupted economic activities for informal workers who are mainly daily wage earners. In addition, the government has not developed rescue measures for businesses that have ceased operations as a result of the pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic, a war to win: assessing its impact on the domestic work sector in Nigeria

This article examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work conditions of domestic workers in Nigeria. We use four indicators – earnings, access to social protection, working conditions and labour protections to provide a nuanced assessment on the impact of the pandemic on domestic workers. Domestic work is an important aspect of productive labour and an indispensable factor that contributes to the well-being of households and the economy. Indeed, the enormous contribution of this sector to societies has been further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while domestic workers are lauded as essential workers, their work remains extremely vulnerable to exploitation and human rights violations, and the pandemic has aggravated this situation. In the results, we find that while many domestic workers did not lose their jobs, their earning power dropped because of low wages in the sector. Furthermore, only 6% of survey respondents reported having access to the government’s social protection measures. The findings of this study emphasises the need for the development of a regulatory model which considers the realities of the domestic work sector. Data used in this article draws from questionnaires administered on 220 domestic workers across four geo-political zones of Nigeria

Scope of protection: a retrospective and prospective overview of the protected disclosures act 2000

Following South Africa’s transition to democratic rule, numerous whistle-blowers have raised the alarm regarding corruption and improprieties at work, in both the private and public sectors. To prevent the negative consequences of whistleblowing, the Protected Disclosure Act, 2000 came into force in February 2001 and was subsequently amended in 2017. However, despite the existence of this law, the sometimes-devastating consequences that have followed disclosures have led to debates on legal protection or rather, the lack thereof of whistle-blowers. This article therefore aims to reflect on how South African courts, have interpreted the protection provided by this Act for whistle-blowers. More particularly, issues concerning the meaning of disclosure, meaning of good faith and the nature of compensation that the courts have awarded are highlighted