Towards Productivity Nigerian Workers Must Be Paid By HoursBy Kunle I. Sowunmi kshoid@yahoo.com
Nigerians are by far one of the most resourceful races in the world with little to show for it due to the system of remuneration the country is presently adopting. This article will focus of workers compensation as an effective management tool in a fast developing economy such as Nigeria and will look into various ways of dealing the shortcomings of the nations employers inability to compensate workers efficiently in a very diverse economy which should the main focus of development in the whole of Africa. This article is written with an open mind that the country (government and private sectors inclusive) is only paying its staff by salary and commission or commission only with the hope a new approach will be looked into to increase productivity of the industries and government activity in the present day economy. It will be meaningless to place emphasis of salaries as an effective way of compensating workers without looking at the other surrounding factors that facilitate the effectiveness of salaries as one of the ways towards compensation including differential payment, which depends on the time and period of which a worker service is needed will be an added advantage i.e. if you work night you get paid differently and you even get more if you work on weekends more on Saturdays and ever better paid on Sundays which is what differential payment is partly involved. Although base salary, fringe benefits, productivity and other salient issues that can give workers sense of belonging are one of the ways workers can be part of the decision making body. Individuals must be allowed to negotiate pay rate on hourly basis subject to a national standard, this gives the opportunity for growth and the negotiation, which must be confidential and non-disclosure a breach of this agreement on the part of the employer can lead to civil damages while it can lead to separation of service on the part of the employee. Payment Per HourAgain, the only reference this writer could point to was in the sixties and part of the seventies at the time workers were paid twice a month but it is not what payment per hour is out to achieve. Hourly paid workers put more efforts in the production of activity in any organization more than salary or monthly paid workers. This new procedure will bring the best in them; it decreases the issue of labor organization power and focuses more on performance rather than unimportant issues that labor management sometimes represent. No work no pay method is one of the objectives of hourly paid system. The idea of going on strikes and be paid for a job not done does not exist in the payment by hour meaning if do not swap your card you do not get paid. All companies and government agencies must introduce card-punching method of clocking in and out the most current one in the market is the Kronox System. It does all the calculations for the organization. Method and Procedure For continuity and accountability purposes only management staff i.e. the head of department should only be placed on salary while the rest of the workers both in public and private sectors on hourly payment system. The functional head of a Department will have his performance measured through results at the end of the day. If he meets the goal of the Board of Directors or that of the group he keeps his job if not he gets fired. This procedure will keep him under constant pressure to make result his primary goal. He will sleep dreaming of result and wake up thinking the same. The rest of the staff on the other hand will know they are on hourly paid method will work every hour to justify their pay. If they are absent from work they know they will miss the day’s pay. They cannot afford to be lazy or unnecessary absent meaning the head of Department or the manager who is constantly under stress will keep a focus eye on any shortcoming any anything less than result will lead to termination from the company or organization. The issue of absentee or ghost workers is completely eliminated through clocking in and clocking out. Control of labor cost is total this will help the management to keep to budget. At the end of a work week the employer must print out the hours worked which must be attached to the paycheck of each worker. All workers must be paid by check or through direct deposit to the employee’s banks. Direct cash payment leads to fraud on both parts and is even dangerous as workers pay may be stolen or robbed The employer on the other hand must be able to guarantee between 32–40 hours work per week to keep a staff as full time anything short of this will be regarded as part time, while any hour in the excess of 40 hours is considered overtime depending when the hours are worked a time and half must be paid Differentials Payment. The method of differential payment in workers compensation method is perhaps the best for the economy on how Nigeria can move forward in the 21st century. It is an indication that scarifies is recognized on the employee and employer relationship. If you work nights you get paid differently, if you Saturdays you get paid better and even more if you work Sundays. In this case, it will possible to keep a ten hours shift of four days and also have the time to have another job. Pay Negotiation And Attitude.Applicant must conduct a very deep research on the employer before the date of interview or pay negotiation the more you know the better for you and your future. Learn if you can grow in your career with the organization otherwise you may be looking for a new job as soon as you join the new company or organization look at the faces of the staff. Do they look happy? Or they just hang in there? If you can visit the company a day before the negotiation for pay, learn to ask question from the staff, visit the company cafeteria, observe the kind of food they are served and the environment this will indicate if you will be dealing with a stingy and energy sapping management. Again it is your future and that of your family that you hold in your hands. During negotiation learn to win favor and respect through smiles and positive attitude. Make yourself a better product. Look employer straight in the eyes; maintain eye contact it shows confidence and it you do join the organization never stopped improving yourself. Keep abreast with the latest information in your profession, and take classes for self-development. Note all vacant positions within six months of joining the organization, ready to move up. Let your employer know your goal is beyond your present level and if you work for two and half years all roads towards growth are not there move on. Never allow sentiment to becloud your sense of reasoning. Note it is your career and future never toy with it. It may be too late to make move in future. Conclusion. In the light of the above, the Nigerian economy will be solely for those who plan to work there will be no room for lazy and unproductive workers. The productively of the Nigerian workers will be improved and recognized tremendously. The present system of remuneration out dated and cannot move us forward; both the employer, and employee including the government tend to gain from this new approach. The Nigeria labor department and Federal government must look into elimination of unproductive legislation for review to keep the nation afloat it is the only way forward for the country to grow in the 21st century.
05/03/05 |