ILO, others move to end workplace discrimination against disabled persons

By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

Worried by increasing discrimination against physically challenged  persons in the workplace, the International Labour Organisation,ILO, and other stakeholders  have taken new steps to  put an end to the development.

According to an estimate of the  United Nations,  disabled persons experience unemployment rates as high as 90 per cent in some low-income countries, and up to 70 per cent in developed countries of the world.

To address this challenge in Nigeria, stakeholders gathered recently in Lagos under the aegis of “Network on Disability and the Business” to brainstorm on the way forward.

Organised by “Theseabilities Limited in partnership with ILO, participants included ILO, StanbicIBTC Plc, Total Nigeria Plc, Workforce Management Centre, Fate Foundation, Gallaudet University, Washington DC, S.I.A.O (firm of chartered accountants), Startrite Mayton and Co. Nigeria Limited, Trinity House, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative, The Nation Newspapers, Senviron Properties Limited and Enable Africa limited.

[caption id="attachment_412239" align="alignnone" width="412"] *CONFERENCE: Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Senior Partner, S.I.A.O. (Chartered Accountants) left, and Mr. Adeboye Abioye, Executive Director, Theseabilities Limited, at the conference.[/caption]

Increasing awareness

The aims   include  increasing awareness on the need to increase employment opportunities for qualified persons with disabilities, sensitize organizations on the Lagos State Special People’s Law, identify and discuss the challenges faced by employers in hiring persons with disabilities and discuss strategies for overcoming such identified barriers and making the workplace more inclusive.

Welcoming participants, Executive Director of Theseabilities Limited and convener, Network on Disability and Business, Adeboye Abioye,  shared the vision of the Network and the benefits of membership. He equally encouraged participants to be open as possible in sharing their perspectives during the forum, advising them  to interact with each other  and  learn from each other.

On his part, Dr. Gabriel Soje, an Assistant Professor at the Gallaudet University (for the Deaf, Hearing-Impaired and Regular Students), Washington, D.C. who  spoke on the Challenges and Solutions to Employing Persons with Hearing Impairments, highlighted the challenges that communication and prejudices played in the process of hiring and keeping the deaf in employment.

He emphasized the need for organizations to be more open and ready to include the deaf in the communication processes and encouraged employers to do away with negative attitudes and unwholesome prejudices that were capable of undermining the chances of qualified persons with disabilities.

Soje advised organizations to ensure that members of staff also learn the sign language which usually is the first language of the Deaf and posited that the disabled and especially the deaf were capable of coping intellectually and emotionally in the workplace.

Similarly, Chairman of the Lagos office of Disability Affairs, Mrs. Tolu Animashaun, in a message to the organizers of the conference, said  "The theme for the Forum  "employABILITIES: Creating a win-win situation for disability and the business" spoke volumes and is in keeping with the provisions of the Lagos State Special People's Law of June 2011. The mandate of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs ( LASODA ) is to ensure the proper implementation of the Lagos State 'Special People's Law' and policies which guarantee inclusion, equal rights and opportunities and self-esteem of people living with disability (PWD)."

Speaking, Ms. Sina Chuma-Mkandawire, Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia and Liaison Office for ECOWAS , represented by Mr. Pius Udoh , cited a study undertaken by the ILO in 2009, using 10 countries – 3 in Asia and 7 in Africa - which concluded that “economic losses related to disability are large and measurable, falling into a band between three and five per cent of GDP.”

She said it was gratifying to note that the international community, including the ILO  as well as countries had made adequate provisions aimed at ensuring that disabled people attain their full rights, saying "when the disabled people realize that they are protected by law, they need to take steps to ensure their integration in line with the provisions of the laws and conventions."

According to Ms. Chuma-Mkandawire, "the Federal Government of Nigeria, in an effort to ensure the protection of disabled people enacted the Nigerian with Disabilities Decree 1993, stating as its general principle that “the purpose of this Decree is to provide a clear and comprehensive legal protection and security for Nigerians with disability as well as establish standard for enforcement of the rights and privileges guaranteed under this decrees and other laws applicable to the disabled in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It also ratified the ILO Convention 159 on 26 August 2010. With these legal instruments in place, the disabled people have what it takes to ensure their full employability – education, skills, knowledge and competencies - which indeed is a gain-gain situation for all."

"These conventions and enactment guarantee, among others, prohibition of discrimination, protection of just and favourable conditions of work, exercise of trade union rights, availability of vocational training, promotion of employment opportunities and continued advancement, promotion of self-employment, provision of employment in the public sector, promotion of private sector employment through affirmative action, incentives and other measures, ensuring the provision of reasonable accommodation or adjustment, promotion of work experience in open employment, and promotion of rehabilitation and return-to-work programmes."

Nigeria’s decree of 1993 went further to grant 15% tax deduction for organization that employ disabled people while reserving 10 % of both labour force and training funds for the disabled. The question is how much of these provisions have we translated into practice?"

Developing positive aspirations is a key factor in securing good educational and occupational outcomes, and an important component of autonomy. Persons with Disabilities who have the required education, skills, knowledge and experience should assert themselves and others will support them.

More FG pensioners in Lagos decry unpaid benefits

By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

TALES of woe from Federal Government retirees in Lagos, have continued to elicit emotional reactions as the retired civil servants battle to draw attention of government to their plight.

Felicia Ndelegbu and Afolabi Shotimbo, who were at the Lagos Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Yaba office for the recent election of officials of the Federal Civil Servants branch, Lagos, of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, told Pension and You, their predicament.

According to Felicia Ndelegbu:  “I retired from the Ministry of Defence in 1991 after 30 years service. To the glory of God, I have been paid my gratuity and I have been on pension since then. But surprisingly, last year November, they stopped paying me my pensions. Nobody has been able to explain to me why my pension was stopped.”

“I was paid last in November and from December last year till today, I have not received anything.

Wat I am hearing is that there was a fraud; that there were people who have defrauded us of our money. If people have defrauded government of  the money, government should go after them and pay us our money. We did not appoint them and we must not be made to suffer because of that.

Since then, God has been sustaining me and has been kind to me and has been carrying me along. God has been using my children to sustain me.”

For Afolabi Shotimbo, of Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, downsized by the Olusegun Obasanjo government in 2006' after 22 years of service, “In 2008, we were paid gratuity. Since then, we were not paid pension arrears until 2010, when a task force came to the Federal Civil Service, Ikoyi, to capture our images. After then, they effected the first payment of our pension for November 2009.

All our arrears from 2006 till date have not been paid. We have filled a lot of forms, done a lot of capturing, verification exercises and a lot of our documents have gone to Abuja. We have equally gone there ourselves severally, nothing has been done to date.

We appeal to government to have mercy on us and pay our entitlements from 2006 to 2009. Now, our monthly pensions have been regular, but the arrears have not been paid.”

Why Pension Reform Act 2004 needs amendment - PenCom

Continues from  last edition

The Commission submits that the National Assembly should de-emphasis the issue of qualifying years of experience and adopt the model of the CBN Act where no requirement of specific years of post-qualification experience is stipulated by the CBN Act. This is the position that is consistent with global best practice which emphasizes competency rather than years of post-qualification experience, which does not necessarily translate into capacity and capability.

b)     Staffing and Funding of PTAD (Ss. 42 – 49 of the Bill): The Bill does not provide for the staffing and funding for the FGN and FCT PTADs. Consequently, it is recommended that additional provisions should be inserted to empower the PTADs to employ their staff and make provision for their sources of funding, which should primarily be from Government subvention.

c)     Re-admission after recertification of medical fitness (S.16(3) of the Bill): The re-integration of persons certified by a medical board or suitably qualified physician upon securing another employment was made subject to Guidelines to be issued by the Commission from time to time. The purpose is to ensure that whenever such persons are employed, the onus of confirming their fitness for employment is on the employer based on extant labour laws.

d) Exemption from the Scheme (S. 5 of the Bill): Section 5(1) of the PRA 2013 included under the list of persons exempted from the Scheme, professors covered by the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Act 2012 and categories of employees entitled by virtue of their terms and conditions of service to retire with full retirement benefits.

This is not the intention of the amendment. These two categories of persons are not meant to be exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme. Rather, they will continue to be under the CPS but would, upon retirement, get their full retirement benefits. We recommend that this should be rectified to reflect the true intendment of the amendment.

Flowing from the above, there is a need to also review the provision of Section 46 and 49 of the Bill. Thus, the expression “exempted under section 8 of this Act” in Section 46 of the Bill should rightfully read “exempted under section 5(1)(b) of this Act” because the PTAD would not be responsible for payment of pension to judicial officers and personnel of the military and security services.

The benefits of these categories of persons would be administered in the case of judicial officers, by the NJC and in the case of the Military and Intelligence and Security Services by their respective pension Boards or Offices.  In all case however, PenCom shall continue to regulate and supervise their activities.

e)   Pension component of the accrued rights of retirees (S.15 of the Bill): The requirement for amounts derived from the pension reviews to be credited into the FG and FCT Retirement Fund Account respectively with the CBN is being recommended for change in order to read that the amounts so derived from such reviews shall be credited into the RSA of the retirees since they have already retired and have nothing to do with the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund.

f) Transition of Closed Pension Fund Administrators (S. 51 of the Bill): The provision should be amended such that it would guarantee the existence of CPFAs for existing employees while every new employee of the sponsor of the Scheme shall join the CPS.

g)   Requirements for PFC Licence (S. 62 of the Bill): The provision should be amended to read that applicants for PFC License shall be limited liability companies incorporated by financial institutions with the sole object of keeping custody of pension and retirement benefits assets to avoid engaging in any other activity.

Also, the requirement for a minimum paid up capital of N25bn to read a minimum paid up capital of such sum as may be prescribed, from time to time, by the Commission and wholly owned by a licensed financial institution with a minimum net worth of N25bn and an annual fidelity insurance cover for the full value of the pension and retirement benefits funds and assets it holds.

Publication of accounts

h)     Proper books of accounts and audit (S. 66 of the Bill): this is recommended for review in order to exempt CPFAs from the requirement for publication of accounts and include the sponsors of approved retirement benefits schemes under the exemption as they are also Defined Benefit schemes.

i)  Operation of branch offices by PFCs (S. 72 of the Bill): It is recommended that due to the centralized nature of their business, PFCs should not open branch offices.

j)Penalty for persistent offenders (S. 76(2) of the Bill): The provision to revoke licence of the operator in the event of persistent contravention of section 76(1) of the Bill is recommended to read “the imposition of additional penalties, including the removal of any top management staff who had knowledge or ought to have had knowledge of the commission of the offence, but failed to take action”.

k)     Acquisition of primary home under the CPS (S. 89(2): The provision on application of a percentage of the pension assets in the RSA towards the acquisition of a primary home is recommended for amendment to read that the money be applied towards the payment of equity contribution for securing residential mortgage as the term ‘primary home’ is nebulous.

l)  Operator’s Board meeting to consider the Commission’s examination reports (S. 95 of the Bill): The provision for suspension of operator licence for not convening of board meeting to consider the Commission’s examination reports is recommended for amendment to read the suspension of the operator’s board as the suspension of licence without transfer of assets under management would jeopardize the interest of the members of the schemes.

m)  Letters of Administration (S. 8(4) of the Bill): The exclusive jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court (NIC) to issue Letters of Administration for payment of retirement benefits may result in multiplicity of Letters of Administration in respect of the estate of one deceased person. It is therefore recommended for deletion.