The Bill seeking to amend the Labour Act, 2004 to allow for the upward of review of fines, scaled second reading in the Senate on Tuesday, 16 March 2021 and was referred to the Committee on Labour Employment and Productivity for further legislative action.

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of the day, Sen. Francis Onyewuchi (PDP: Imo State) stated that the bill seeks to amend the current fines for offences relating to labour which are obsolete and ineffective. According to Sen. Onyewuchi, the Bill proposes to amend the following sections of the Principal Act:

• Section 21 (Breach of Terms and Conditions of Employment as it relates to wage hour, nature of employment, leave, contracts of employments, etc.) by proposing an upward review of fines from N800 to N500,000 and from N1500 to N1,000,000 for the respective offences.
• Section 46 (Neglect of Ill-Treatment of Workers by Employers) by proposing an upward review of the fine from N500 to N500, 000.
• Section 47 (Recruitment of Employees without an Employee’s Permit or Recruiters License) byproposing an upward review of fines from N200 to N500,000 and from N2,000 to N1,000,000 for the respective offences.
• Section 53 (Inducement of Apprentice to Leave Service of Employment) by proposing an upward review of fines from N500 to N300,000 and from N200 to N200,000 for the respective offence.
• Section 58 (Denial of Maternity Protection and Employment of Women in Underground Work or Mines) by proposing an upward review of fines from N200 to N200,000 and from N100 to N100,000 for the respective offences.
• Section 64 (Employment of Young Persons in Unreasonable Circumstances e.g. Industries) by proposing an upward review of the fine from N100 to N200,000.
• Sections 67 and 68 (Breach of Regulation of the Minister relating to Labour Health Areas and Registration of Employers) by proposing an upward review of the fine from N1,500 to N250,000.
• Section 72 (Offences Committed by Persons with Intent to Deceive in the Employment of Labour) by proposing an upward review of fines from N1,000 to N300,000 and from N500 to N200,000 for the respective offences.
• Section 73 (Forced Labour) by proposing an upward review of fines from N1,000 to N300,000 and from N500 to N200,000 for the respective offences.
• Section 74 (Breach of Regulations made by the Minister relating to Emergencies and Communal Obligations) by proposing an upward review of fines from N200 to N30,000 and from N10 to N10,000 for respective offences.
• Sections 75 and 76 (Contravention of Records of Wages and Conditions of Employment, Returns and Statistics of Employees) by proposing an upward review of the fine from N200 to N300,000
• Section 85 and 88 (Costs in Court and Fines for Regulations made by the Minister) by proposing an upward review of fines from N50 to N50,000 and from N500 to N500,000 for respective offences.

In his submission, he noted that the sanctions, penalties and interests payable under the Act were ridiculously low and could not provide the needed protection for workers in the labour market, hence, the need to review these penalties upwards in order to achieve fair employee relations.