Just because Nigerian law recognises casual employment doesn't mean the practice itself is justified. The legal recognition reflects socio-economic realities, not an endorsement of casualisation.
Casual employment—also called Non-Standard Work Arrangement (NSWA)—covers various temporary arrangements. These include fixed-term contracts, on-call work, part-time roles, and temporary positions.
Workers in these arrangements lose crucial protections. They typically lack job security, pensions, health insurance, and life insurance benefits that permanent staff enjoy.
Nigeria's Labour Act contains no formal definition of "casual work" or "casualisation." However, the law does require that employment lasting beyond three months must be formalised in writing with clear terms.
The Court of Appeal has its own benchmark. In Owena Mass Transportation Co.
Ltd v. Okonogbo, judges defined a casual worker as someone hired for under six months and paid daily.
Workplace injury compensation tells a different story. The Employees Compensation Act (ECA) defines an employee broadly to include casual workers.
According to the ECA definition, an employee covers "a person employed by an employer under oral or written contract of employment whether on a continuous, part-time, temporary, apprenticeship or casual basis." This extends to domestic workers and those in informal sectors.
What does this mean? The ECA deliberately expanded worker protections to include casual staff—at least for injury and death claims.
In Abel v. Trevi Foundation Nigeria Limited, the courts reinforced this.
A contract worker successfully claimed compensation for workplace injuries using the ECA's broad definition.
Trade union rights present another angle. Nigeria's courts have repeatedly defended the union rights of casual workers.
The National Industrial Court faced this directly in Patovilki Industrial Planners Limited v National Union of Hotels and Personal Services Workers. A company tried blocking casual staff from joining unions.
The dispute went to arbitration. The Industrial Arbitration Panel ruled firmly against the company.
Both the Panel and the National Industrial Court agreed on one thing. Section 1(1) of the Trade Unions Act covers permanent and temporary workers alike.
Casual workers, the court noted, fall under "temporary workers" in legal terms. They cannot be barred from joining unions of their choice.
So where does this leave casual employment in Nigeria? Recognition exists in law, yes.
But recognition isn't the same as validation. Courts continue carving out protections for casual workers despite their precarious status.
The legal system is slowly acknowledging reality. Many Nigerians depend on casual work for survival.
Yet these protections remain scattered across different laws. A comprehensive casual worker framework still doesn't exist in Nigeria.
