Annual, sick and maternity leave in Nigeria: what the Labour Act requires

Ask around and you’ll hear that Nigerian staff are entitled to 21 days of leave, or 15, or “whatever the contract says”. The last answer is the closest. The Labour Act sets a low floor, and for most office staff it doesn’t apply at all. Here’s how it actually works.

First: who the Labour Act covers

The Labour Act protects “workers”, and its definition is narrower than most people think. It covers people employed under a contract for manual labour or clerical work, and it specifically excludes, among others, people in administrative, executive, technical or professional roles.

So the statutory minimums below apply mainly to manual and junior clerical staff. For managers, professionals and most knowledge workers, leave comes from the employment contract, the staff handbook or a collective agreement. That’s why it matters to write your leave policy down properly, and why the National Industrial Court looks closely at what a contract promises.

Annual leave

Under section 18 of the Labour Act:

• After 12 months of continuous service, a worker is entitled to at least six working days of annual leave on full pay.
• A worker under 16 (including an apprentice) is entitled to at least 12 working days.
• Leave can be deferred by agreement, but not so that the earning period goes beyond 24 months of continuous service.
• It is unlawful to pay wages instead of leave to a worker whose contract hasn’t ended. In plain terms, you can’t buy out a current employee’s leave.
• A worker who leaves after six to twelve months of service is entitled to a proportionate payment in lieu.

Leave pay, like sick pay, is calculated on the money part of the worker’s wages, excluding overtime and other allowances (section 19).

In practice, six days is far below the market. Most Nigerian employers give 15 to 25 working days, often rising with seniority, and staff will compare your offer with that, not with the Act.

Sick leave

Section 16 gives a worker up to 12 working days of paid sick leave in a calendar year for temporary illness certified by a registered medical practitioner. Two conditions apply: the contract must still be in place, and the worker must agree to be examined by a doctor you nominate, if you ask.

Your policy should say when a medical certificate is needed and what happens once the 12 days run out.

Maternity leave

Section 54 sets the statutory position:

• A woman may stop work once she produces a medical certificate saying her confinement is likely within six weeks.
• She may not work for six weeks after the birth.
• That makes 12 weeks in total, six before and six after.
• If she has been continuously employed by you for six months or more, she must be paid at least 50% of the wages she would have earned.
• A nursing mother is allowed half an hour twice a day during working hours to nurse her child.
• You may not give her notice of dismissal while she is absent on maternity leave.

Again, the market has moved well past the Act. Many employers now give 12 to 16 weeks on full pay, and the federal public service gives longer. If your policy offers 50% pay, expect it to be a sore point in recruitment.

Paternity leave

The Labour Act doesn’t provide for paternity leave. The federal public service has introduced it for its own staff, and a growing number of private employers offer a week or two of paid paternity leave through their own policies.

Putting a policy together

1. Start from your contracts, not the Act. Most of your staff are probably outside the Act’s definition of “worker”.
2. Set annual leave by grade, for example 15 days rising to 20 or 25, and say when leave can be carried forward.
3. Don’t offer to buy out leave for current employees. The Act prohibits it for the workers it covers, and it’s poor practice for everyone else.
4. Write down the sick leave rules: days paid, certificate requirements, and what happens after.
5. Decide your maternity and paternity pay above the statutory floor, and apply it consistently.

If you’re also setting up who approves leave, our guide to leave approvals that don’t stall walks through the options.

How Eban handles leave

In Eban you define each leave type with its own entitlement, so annual leave can differ by grade and maternity, paternity and sick leave each follow their own rules. Balances update as leave is approved, unused days can carry forward up to a limit you set, and employees apply and track their balances from the mobile app. Supervisors approve from their phones, and the team calendar shows who is away so nobody is surprised on Monday morning.