This document, the **LABOUR ACT**, repeals and replaces the Labour Code Act and consolidates the law relating to labour, commencing on August 1, 1971.
**Part I: General Provisions**
* **Protection of Wages:** Wages must be paid in legal tender, or by cheque or postal order, with the worker’s prior written consent. Advances cannot exceed one month’s wages. Total monthly deductions, unless expressly permitted by law, cannot exceed one-third of the worker’s wages.
* **Contracts of Employment:** Employers must provide a written statement of terms (unless a written contract is provided) within three months of engagement, specifying details like wages, hours, and notice period. Every worker must be medically examined at the employer’s expense. A contract is terminable by notice (ranging from one day to one month, depending on continuous service) or legally otherwise.
* **Terms and Conditions:** Normal hours of work are fixed by mutual agreement, collective bargaining, or an industrial wages board. Workers are entitled to sick leave up to twelve working days per calendar year for temporary illness certified by a registered medical practitioner. Workers get annual holidays with full pay: at least six working days, or twelve working days for persons under sixteen. In the event of redundancy, the employer must inform the trade union or workers’ representative and adopt the “last in, first out” principle, subject to merit.
**Part II: Recruiting**
* Recruiting citizens for employment in Nigeria or elsewhere requires an employer’s permit or a recruiter’s licence.
* No recruiter may recruit a young person, although the Minister may authorise the recruitment of young persons over sixteen with parental/guardian consent for non-injurious employment.
* A citizen recruited for employment in Nigeria must be medically examined and certified as duly recruited by an authorised labour officer before employment.
* For foreign contracts (outside Nigeria), the duration shall not exceed one year if the worker is not accompanied by family, or two years if accompanied. The employer must offer a return passage within thirty days of contract expiration.
**Part III: Special Classes of Worker and Miscellaneous Special Provisions**
* Includes provisions for Apprentices, Employment of women (including maternity protection and restrictions on night/underground work), Young persons (including restrictions on child labour and night/underground work), Domestic service, Labour health areas, Registration, employment exchanges, etc., and Prohibition of forced labour.
**Part IV: Supplemental**
* Covers records and returns, administration (including authorised labour officers’ powers), and settlement of disputes.