Bill To Criminalise Late/Non-Payment Of Wages Passes Second Reading

A bill seeking to check the growing cases of non-payment and underpayment of workers’ wages, pension and other emoluments has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill, sponsored by the Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, seeks to criminalise this practice by employers across the country.
Most lawmakers supported the bill during the debate on Tuesday, even as some of them called for caution on how to ensure that the bill is implementable.
With massive unemployment in the country, a lot of workers are underemployed and some employers get away with defaulting in the payments as dictated by the Pension and Health Insurance Acts.
There are also widespread reports among those that are employed of late payment and sometimes non-payment of workers’ wages.
These are issues that members of the House of Representatives believe, the bill will address.
The bill easily scaled through second reading and has been referred to a joint committee for further legislative action.
Also, the bill for an Act to establish an independent NationalAssembly budget and research office passed second reading.