A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT STATE OF EMPLOYEES COMPENSATION LAWS IN NIGERIA WITH GHANA, SOUTH AFRICA AND INDIA

Abstract

Since the passage into law of the Employees Compensation Act in2010, countless cases of workplace accidents have occurred in Nigeria. Yet there seems to be no succour for the Nigerian worker as many state governments have either refused to register with or do not have the willpower to implement the legislation in their respective states. Some in the private sector continue to call for the review of the funding pattern of compensation for workers. With this scenario, it becomes increasingly difficult to implement the Act in the country and this means that countless of workplace injuries will not be compensated or properly handled as stipulated by the law. The aim of this paper is to examine the implementation of the Employees Compensation Act and like many other Acts that have come before it, to determine the implementation level. The primary objective of this paper is to find the various challenges that may be militating against the effective implementation of the Act with a comparative analysis of the implementation mechanism in other jurisdiction. This paper found that the expressions by employees indicate that the Employees Compensation Act 2010 is a welcome development and a timely intervention for the Nigerian workers. This paper therefore recommends that NSITF, the body saddled with the responsibility to manage the funds, should start to implement the Act immediately by updating their records and carry out public enlightenment campaigns to employees and employers in both the private and public services while paying compensation benefits to injured workers.