Hybrid Consult

Redundancy is perhaps the most controversial concept in Nigerian Labour and employment law and Industrial Relations, and yet a recurrent decimal in today’s workplace. The current Covid-19 Pandemic continues to have adverse implications for businesses especially the ability of employers to cope with the labour costs. This has necessitated many employers to declare redundancies. Managing change in any business environment is often difficult let alone one as turbulent as massive layoffs.

Redundancy, admittedly, is a legitimate tool in the hands of the employers to achieve sustainable business growth and corporate survival, especially at a trying and difficult time like this, but this legitimate business aspiration must however be balanced against workers rights and other public policy considerations. It must also be reiterated that it is not every case of retrenchment or layoffs that qualifies as redundancy in law and gives rise to redundancy claims. This important point is often lost on the employees and their trade unions who are very quick to insist on redundancy payments in every case of staff layoff.

Most redundancies in Nigeria are often mismanaged and sometimes create more problems than it solves. Some redundancy processes drag for too long and sometimes enmeshed in protests, industrial actions and avoidable litigation. It is against this background that this seminar is conceived. The seminar will explore the law, practice and procedure of redundancy in Nigeria and offer a helpful list of the “right” and “wrong” things to do during the process. The class will be interactive and case studies based.