Download PDF
PAPER AND PAPER PRODUCTS SENIOR STAFFASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA AND NIGERIAN PAPER MILL, JEBBA (NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT) HON. JUSTICE M.A. BORISADE - PRESIDENT CHIEF M.G DABIBI - MEMBER PROF. B.B. KANYIP - MEMBER SUIT NO: NIC/7/2001 DATE OFJUDGMENT - MARCH2J, 2002. LABOUR LAW Termination of appointment - Redundancy Differences between. ISSUES 1. Whether the Respondent in this suit can vary the terms of the award of the Industrial Arbitration Panel. 2. Whether by the Industrial Arbitration Panel award and the acceptance of it by the Respondent, the Appellant’s concerned members are not deemed to be in the employ of the Respondent until redundancy is fully implemented in accordance with laid down procedures in section 2(8) of the Labour Act. FACTS A trade dispute between the parties was referred to the Industrial Arbitration Panel. The Panel heard the matter and made its award, the substance of which was that the affected workers should have been relieved under redundancy and not termination of employment. The Appellant association did not in fact object to the award. Its grouse, however, was that there were many interpretations being given to the award. The Association then impressed on the Minister that the matter be referred to the National Industrial Court for proper interpretation, which he did. Both parties thereafter filed and exchanged their memoranda, and orally addressed the court. Held: (Interpreting the IAP award). On Differences between termination and redundancy - There is a difference between termination and redundancy, not necessarily in terms of the process of, or procedure for implementation but even in their terms. While termination may connote a certain level of culpability or wrong doing on the part of a staff terminated, redundancy does not necessarily carry as much stigma as termination. In any event, while the affected staff would ordinarily have a say in redundancy, that is not the case with termination. Thus, in this case, the court treated the workers affected as having been deemed laid off under redundancy, without necessarily following the process of redundancy under section 28 of the Labour Act.