Cite this article as: Dance, A.M., Amehojo, D. & Sani, S. (2023). Effects of the Implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Act in Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Abuja, Nigeria. Zamfara International Journal of Humanities, (2)3, 19-30. www.doi.org/10.36349/zamijoh.2023.v02i03.003.
Effects of the
Implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Act in Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS) Abuja, Nigeria
BY
DANCE, Ayuba Maikasuwa
Department of Public Administration
Nasarawa State University, Keffi
E-mail: amdance4u@yahoo.com
GSM: 08036328232
And
AMEHOJO Daniel
amdan59@gmail.com
Department of Public Administration,
Nasarawa State University, Keffi
08065538837
And
SANI Suleiman
Department of Public Administration
Nasarawa State University, Keffi
GSM: 08034589568
Abstract
This study
examines the effect of implementing the Employees' Compensation Act in the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) located in Abuja, Nigeria. The study
assesses how the implementation of this Act affects the well-being of workers
within the FIRS in Abuja. A total of 399 employees from the FIRS in Abuja
participated in the survey. The findings of the study indicate that the
respondents lack awareness regarding the compensation act within the FIRS.
Additionally, the majority of the respondents expressed disagreement with the
adequacy of compensation for FIRS employees who experience work-related
disabilities. On the other hand, most respondents agreed that employees
suffering from work-related mental stress are adequately compensated within the
FIRS. One of the recommendations put forth is for the FIRS to establish
effective communication strategies to ensure that all employees have a clear
understanding of their rights and the compensation provisions available to them
in cases of work-related disabilities. Achieving this objective could involve
organizing regular workshops, training sessions, and informative campaigns.
Keywords:
Compensation,
Employer; Employee Compensation Act and Implementation
Introduction
Ensuring
a fair and equitable society in Nigeria involves giving utmost importance to
the welfare and safety of employees in their workplaces. To address this
concern, the Nigerian government introduced the Employees' Compensation Act
(ECA), which offers extensive coverage and assistance to workers in cases of
injuries, disabilities, or fatalities resulting from work-related incidents.
The primary objective of this legislation is to establish a strong compensation
framework that safeguards the well-being of employees and fosters the
cultivation of secure work environments throughout the nation.
The Employee’s Compensation Act 2010 ("The Act), which
repeals the Workmen’s Compensation Act, Cap. W6 Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria, 2004, is designed for an open and fair system of guaranteed and
adequate comprehensive provisions for payment of compensation to employees who
suffer from occupational diseases or sustain injuries arising from accidents at
the workplace or in the course of employment.
The Act applies to all employers and employees in the public and
private sectors in the Federal Republic of Nigeria [Section 2 (1)]. It however
excludes any member of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
[Section 2 (3)].
Although the Act is made up of several parts, this study is
focused on Part 3, which is compensation for death, injury, or disease and
mental stress. According to the Act, any employee, whether or not in a
workplace, who suffers any disabling injury arising out of or in the course of
employment, shall be entitled to compensation.
Based
on the existing evidence, there is still a considerable journey ahead in the
fight for the enforcement of the Act and ensuring adherence to both national
and international labour standards. The labour standard states that if an
employee experiences a non-traumatic disability related to their employment
under this Act, they are entitled to compensation. The lack of implementation
of the Act is worsened by the government's unwillingness to safeguard its citizen
workers from exploitation by economic operators who prioritize accumulating
surplus value over the well-being of workers.
In
many parts of the world, once a bill is approved and becomes a law, its effects
are immediately evident, and the implementation is eventually felt by all
relevant parties. However, the case in Nigeria, as pointed out by Abolo (2013),
is somewhat different. The impact of laws is not easily noticeable unless they
affect the political class or the wealthy in society. Since the passage of the
Employees' Compensation Amendment Act 2010 and the official launch of the
scheme on July 11, 2011, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the
agency responsible for managing the compensation fund in Nigeria, has been
largely inactive.
As
Aibieyi (2009) argues, any policy that is formulated but not fully implemented
is not only useless but also lacks significant value. Therefore, it is crucial
to evaluate the level of implementation of the Employees' Compensation Act
(ECA) to determine if it has produced the desired results or effects on
society. The success or failure of any policy depends on the effective
implementation of its programs (Aibieyi, 2009). Regardless of how
well-intentioned a policy or scheme is, its success or failure hinges on its
implementation. Anderson (1975) asserts that a policy's evaluation is based on
the documented success of its implementation.
To
assess the success of the 2010 Employees' Compensation Act under the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), it is necessary to examine its implementation,
prospects, and achievements thus far. The enactment of the Employees'
Compensation Amendment Act 2010 was expected to bring relief to Nigeria's
workforce, particularly in FIRS, by simplifying the process of obtaining
compensation for workplace injuries. However, in a country like Nigeria with a
history of inactive policies and unimplemented ideas, the initial enthusiasm
surrounding the new law seems to have waned. Issues related to the Act are no
longer widely discussed, and the average FIRS employee does not see the Act
being put into action. Instances of workplace injuries without proper
compensation are still prevalent.
Nigeria
has never lacked policies from its inception to the present day. However, it
must be emphasized that the country has a track record of enacting excellent
laws without following through on their implementation (Adewunmi, 2016).
The
average Nigerian worker's awareness of the Employee Compensation Scheme, as
noted by Eroke and Oyedele (2013), is very low. Most workers are unaware of the
scheme and their rights to access it, and this applies to FIRS employees as
well.
The
Employee Compensation Act aims to establish an equitable and transparent system
that guarantees comprehensive provisions for compensating employees who suffer
from occupational diseases or sustain injuries at the workplace. However, the
situation in FIRS seems to be somewhat different. Therefore, it is crucial to
determine the implementation level of FIRS after the proactive step taken by
NSITF in engaging employers of labour in dialogue and working closely with the
Nigerian Employers Consultative Association to facilitate organization
registration and inform employees about the scheme and its benefits to them.
It
is against this backdrop that this study aims to evaluate the impact of the
implementation of the Employees' Compensation Act on FIRS workers. Previous
research has attempted to identify a "pay for performance"
relationship in executive compensation but found a weak connection with
performance measures. However, inadequate compensation and benefits can lead to
low employee performance, reduced job satisfaction, increased absenteeism, and
decreased organizational output. Poor management and implementation of
compensation and benefits can diminish employee motivation to work harder.
Compensation is crucial for employee performance, encompassing all the external
rewards employees receive in exchange for their work. In any organization with
low employee satisfaction, intentional turnover is likely to occur. High
employee turnover has negative effects on the organization's economy and social
processes, diminishing profitability and productivity.
The
main objective of this study is to evaluate the implementation of the Employee
Compensation Act in Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Abuja, while the
specific objectives are to:
i.
Ascertain whether employees in FIRS are
all aware of the compensation act.
ii.
Ascertain whether the employees of FIRS
who suffer work-related disability are adequately compensated.
iii. Examine
how employees who suffered work mental stress are being compensated in FIRS as
provided in the Compensation Act
Conceptual
Issues
Concept
of Compensation
According to Bowman (2006), compensation management can be
defined as all the employers’ available tools that may be used to attract,
retain, motivate, and satisfy employees. This encompasses every single
investment that an organisation makes in its people and everything its employees
value in the employment relationship. Simply, the notion of compensation
management just says that there is more to rewarding people than throwing money
at them, or, as Mulis and Watson put it in Armstrong (2008), "the monetary
value in the compensation package still matters, but they are not the only
factor". They also stress that compensation policies are based on
"building a much deeper understanding of the employee agenda across all
elements of reward". The compensation management process was summed up by
Work Force (2008) as follows: Creating a fun, challenging, and empowering work
environment in which individuals can use their abilities to do meaningful jobs
for which they are shown appreciation is likely to be a more certain way to
enhance motivation and performance, even though creating such an environment
may be more difficult and take more time than merely turning the reward lever.
A major strength of the 2010 Employees Compensation Act, which
was signed into law in 2011, is the aspect that states that compensation should
be paid to an employee for life, if injured or deceased, or to the dependents
of the deceased, notwithstanding that the employer might have made
contributions in respect of that worker for only one year. This is one aspect
of the Act NSITF should capitalise on to sell its products to Nigerian
employees and employers, as this part of the Act is very humane. This aspect of
the Act equally recognises that some Nigerian employers might not take the
scheme seriously, hence the worker's protection. Cases have been heard of the
families of workers not getting the benefits when the employees are late. The
Employees Compensation Act (2011) makes adequate provision for the families of
the deceased. These provisions will give some respite in the face of the harsh
economic conditions we find ourselves in in Nigeria.
An area of concern is the ambiguity of the Employees
Compensation Amendment Act (2011), which did not state when contributions are
required to be remitted under the Act; the Act did not spell out clearly
whether it is monthly or on the 1st of January of every year. Humans being what
we are, we will likely look for excuses to evade the remittance for their
employees, since the law does not specify when such should be remitted. This
may also have affected the smooth management of the scheme as funds meant for
it were not remitted.
Compensation
for Disabilities
Permanent
total and partial disabilities
Where an employee suffers some injuries leading to a permanent
total disability, the Board shall pay the employee a monthly payment equal to
90 per cent of the employee's remuneration (Section 21(1) of the Act).
Similarly, if the disability is permanent or partial, depending however on the
degree of injury and the extent of impairment of any capacity of the injured
employee, the Board shall pay to the employee a periodic payment equal to 90 per
cent of an estimated loss of remuneration resulting from the impairment
(Section 25(1) and (2) of the Act). The compensation for this purpose is
calculated by the second schedule of the Act.
It must be noted that the employee’s compensation is limited to
90 percent means that the employee is also made to share in the cost of the
injury beyond the physical disability and pain. The basis for sharing this cost
is not known. This raises the issue of equity in this regard. Can this be said
to be in accord with providing for an open and fair system of guaranteed and
adequate compensation for disabling injuries to an employee being propagated by
the Act? The answer, submitted with humility, is no.
Temporary
total and temporary partial disabilities
Payment in these cases is a lump sum by the second schedule of
the Act or any regulation the Board may make in respect of the schedule. It
must be noted that payment shall not be made in these cases for any disability
that lasts for more than 12 months (Sections 23(a) and (b) of the Act).
Compensation for injuries resulting from disabilities under the
Act is made to the employee, but only if the employee is (Section 23(a) and (b)
of the Act):
a. less than 55 years of age on the date of the injury,
b.
55 years of age or older
on the date of the injury.
Where the employee is less than 55 years of age, such payment
would continue until the employee reaches 55 years of age or the board is
satisfied that the employee would retire after attaining that age, or the date
the employee would retire after attaining that age. Where the employee is 55
years of age or older on the date of the injury, the payment would be
discontinued 2 years after the date of the injury if the board is satisfied
that the employee would retire after the 2 years or on such later date as the
board may determine.
The duration of payment is limited by the employee’s age at 55
and not based on the statutory retirement age for employees in the employment
where the injured employee works lacks any acceptable justification. Different
occupations have different retirement ages. It is hoped that the board will consider
this before discontinuing any payment to an injured employee, as the case may
be.
It must be noted that the Act, apart from the departure from the
lump sum payment system to regular monthly payment and the provision of medical
care, has gone further to provide for vocational rehabilitation, medical
transport, and attendant care. These are developments that bring the law on
injury compensation into compliance with the ILO standards (see ILO C121
Articles 9–12).
Compensation for Mental Stress
Compensation for mental stress can vary depending on the
jurisdiction, the specific circumstances, and the applicable laws and
regulations. In FIRS, compensation for mental stress or psychological injuries
is available under certain conditions.
In FIRS, workers' compensation laws or employment regulations
may provide compensation for mental stress or psychological injuries arising
from work-related incidents. These incidents could include workplace accidents,
harassment, discrimination, or other traumatic events. In such cases, the
affected individual may be entitled to benefits such as medical expenses,
counselling or therapy costs, loss of income, and, in some instances,
compensation for pain and suffering. To pursue a compensation claim, it is usually
necessary to demonstrate that the mental stress or psychological injury was
directly caused by the work-related incident and that it resulted in
significant harm or impairment. This often requires medical evidence from
qualified professionals, such as psychiatrists or psychologists, to support the
claim.
Section 8 of the Act makes compensation payable for mental
stress arising from an acute reaction to a sudden and unexpected traumatic
event or a mental or physical condition arising out of or in the course of
employment (Section 8(1) of the Act). Compensation for mental stress includes
mental stress caused by a change of work, the working conditions, or the
organisation of work in such a way as to unfairly exceed the workability and
capacity of the employee by his employer (Section 8(2) of the Act). To avoid
any disagreement that may arise in respect of any claims for mental stress
arising in these circumstances, the Act empowers the Board to appoint a Medical
Board of Enquiry to ascertain the mental conditions of the employee, as the
case may be (Section 8(3) of the Act).
The inclusion of compensation for mental stress arising from
changes in working conditions is important because the employer is under a duty
to take reasonable care of the employee. It also buttresses the duty of mutual
respect and cooperation in employment relations. The general requirement that
the conditions of work are just and humane cannot be satisfied where the
psychological needs and other challenges of the employee are ignored by the
employer in decision-making and the implementation of such decisions.
Compensation for mental stress and other injuries arising from the employer's
disregard of this duty becomes necessary and desirable if human dignity at work
must be respected and sustained. It is also a safer way of implementing health
and safety standards in employment relations, as emphasised by the National
Employment Policy.
This is a welcome development that, it is hoped, will be given
judicial backing through the implied duties doctrine in employer-employee
relations. We need not wait for actual injury to claim compensation. Prevention
is better than cure. The duty in this regard can be forced through pre-emptive
actions and the award of damages, as the case may be.
Stress occurs when employees are not able to meet deadlines when
there is excessive work and the time available to complete the work is limited,
and for other reasons. Employee well-being is related to the health and
wellness of the employee. It is the employer’s responsibility to create a work
environment that promotes employee well-being. Physiological well-being leads
to mental well-being, and together they help individuals achieve work-life
balance. If the employee is satisfied and happy with the organisation, he or
she is committed to it and can easily balance their work and personal life. The
most widely studied workplace stressors are lack of organisational support,
work overload, stressors, and non-standard work hours (including long work
hours), (Shagvaliyeva & Yazdanifard, 2014).
Challenges of Implementation
From independence till date, Nigeria, as a nation, has never
lacked in policies. Instead, it must be stated here that Nigeria, as a country,
has records of enacting wonderful laws, but the problem has been a lack of
implementation Abubakar (2015).
Take the first attempt to provide legislation to handle
compensation in Nigeria in 1941, when the colonial authorities enacted the
Workers Compensation Act No. 51 of 1941. That Act failed because it made
provisions for the payment of compensation to a worker who sustained injuries
at work or to his dependents if the injury resulted in death (Obi 1995).
According to Abubakar (2015), the Managing Director of NSITF,
they have been able to register 25,076 employers of labour as of January 2015.
According to Abubakar (2015), the major challenge faced by the organisations is
that of accessing the organisations that ought to register with NSITF. The
employers of labour presently registered are a far cry from the number of
organisations registered in Nigeria. This may reduce the level of compliance by
stakeholders and drastically affect the employee who is at the receiving end of
the table. Getting employers into the scheme has continued to be a challenge
due to the failures of similar schemes in the past. To achieve this fate, NSITF
has taken a proactive step by engaging employers of labour in dialogue while working
closely with the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association to help
organisations register. But this step seems like too little effort in tackling
this problem.
Omoro & Okaka (2016) examined the implementation of the
Compensation Act in the Delta State civil service, like many other acts that
have come before it, to determine the level of implementation. The study finds
the various challenges that militate against the effective implementation of
the Act. In the survey, 227 workers from both the private and public sectors
were selected. The study revealed that over 58% of the respondents were not
aware of the existence of employee compensation. They, therefore, recommended
that NSITF, the body saddled with the responsibility to manage the funds,
should start to implement the Act immediately by updating their records and
carrying out public education campaigns to employees and employers in both the
private and public sectors while paying compensation benefits to injured
workers.
Awareness
of the Employee Compensation Act
The awareness level of the average Nigerian worker about the
existence of the employee compensation scheme is very low. Most workers are not
aware of the scheme and their rights to access it. This may explain why some
foreigners continue to abuse Nigerian workers on their soil. For fear of
intimidation, some employees are always afraid to report cases of injuries in
the workplace. In a recent survey by these researchers, the issues of
non-awareness of this law were highlighted by a majority of the respondents.
Withholding of information by organisations can be a source of
challenge for NSITF, as most organisations are not willing to report cases of
accidents and injuries that occur on their premises. Most organisations in
Nigeria are more interested in the reputation of their corporate status than
staff welfare. This can be deduced from the comment of Abolo (2005), who said
that as soon as an accident occurs in the case of transport lines in Nigeria,
the first step taken by the management of the companies is to hide their
identities, either by covering their names or by immediately removing the
vehicles involved in the accidents from the scene. With this type of culture,
it becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to assist affected
workers.
Empirical
Review
Spieler and Burton (2012), in their synthesis of the literature,
seeking to explain the discrepancy between the number of people disabled due to
work-related injuries or illnesses and the number of people who receive
workers’ compensation benefits, cite the exclusion of categories of workers
from coverage, the failure of individual workers to file, and barriers to
approval and receipt of benefits. The procedural challenges faced by those
injured or ill workers who file a claim, including higher standards of evidence
introduced through workers’ compensation law amendments during the 1990s,
reduce the success of claims. In other words, not only employer conditions but
also increasingly restrictive rules for compensability in many state workers'
compensation programmes have reduced benefit receipt.
Erin and Bronchetti (2012) undertook a comprehensive analysis of
the elasticity of response of worker claims behaviour to higher workers’
compensation benefits using a 25-year time series of the Current Population
Survey from 1977 to 2004 that yielded results contradicting Krueger (1990) and
Butler (1994). They found that with additional controls, including levels of
prior earnings, higher cash benefits for workers’ compensation were not found
to be correlated with a higher incidence of receiving workers’ compensation.
While the finding of no evidence of moral hazard behaviour on the part of
workers is attributed to the additional controls, the difference in periods
studied cannot be ruled out as a factor affecting the results. The more recent
data may reflect changes in the extent of moral hazard behaviour of workers
since the early 1980s due to changes in state workers’ compensation insurance
programmes, terms of workers’ compensation insurance policies, and resultant
incentives.
Azaroff, Levenstein and Wengman (2002) revealed that workers
failed to report job-related injuries due to concern that filing a workers’
compensation claim would be considered an indicator of a worker’s insufficient
attention to risks or a tendency to express grievances, which could inhibit
career advancement.
Lakdawalla,
Reville, & Seabury, (2007) concluded, based on data
from the BLS National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, that because workplace
environment and employer heterogeneity critically affect worker decisions about
workers’ compensation claim filing, any efforts to increase the use of workers’
compensation would depend on influencing employers. Supplementing quantitative
and qualitative inquiry with onsite research in the healthcare industry, Galizzi, Miesmaa, Punnett, and Slatin, (2010)
observed that failure to file a claim is explained by time pressure and worker
concerns about eligibility and adverse effects on reputation, and future
earnings, and career advancement.
David, Alysha, and Steven (2014) conducted a study on Workers’
Compensation Insurance: A Primer for Public Health. The purpose of this
document is to help public health researchers and practitioners, especially
those in occupational safety and health, broaden their understanding of
workers’ compensation insurance, relevant aspects of the insurance industry
records, and the potential uses of that information for public health purposes.
The economic and social burden of occupational injuries and illnesses can only
be roughly estimated (Leigh and Marcin 2012; Leigh 2011). Uncertainties are due
to many factors, including: (1) workers receive only a portion of regular wages
through workers’ compensation; (2) occupational illnesses are frequently not
compensated; (3) medical treatment costs for many occupational injuries are
paid by other insurance; (4) insurance data are fragmented; and (5) data are
protected for proprietary and personal identification purposes. No central
repository for information on workers’ compensation claims exists in the U.S.
Numerous standardised data coding systems are utilised for workers’
compensation claim information. Some of these were specifically developed and
adopted within the workers’ compensation industry, while other coding systems,
such as NAICS and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), were
developed for other purposes. Further standardisation of data elements and
coding schemes, such as the universal adoption of ICD medical codes and ICD-E
external cause of injury codes, would be beneficial. The states frequently
require all employers, including those self-insured for workers’ compensation,
to provide health and safety programmes for their establishments.
Oko and Obukovwo (2017) examined the implementation of the
Compensation Act, like many other acts that have come before it, to determine
the level of implementation. The study was set out to find the various
challenges that may militate against the effective implementation of the Act.
In the survey, 427 workers from both the private and public sectors were
selected. The study revealed that over 58% of the respondents were not aware of
the existence of employee compensation, while 76 said they had no confidence in
the government's ability to manage the Act. The paper therefore recommends that
NSITF, the body saddled with the responsibility to manage the funds, should
start to implement the Act immediately by updating their records and carrying
out public education campaigns to employees and employers in both the private
and public sectors while paying compensation benefits to injured workers.
Muazu (2016) examines the Employees Compensation Act 2010 to
ascertain the legal framework of employees' mental stress compensation in
Nigeria and its contributions towards the protection of workers in discharging
their duties. The ECA is legislation enacted by the government to address
issues relating to the welfare and security of workers. The ECA contributes to
the development of workers; its application gave birth to the Nigerian Social
Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to enhance the management and maintenance of the
worker's compensation fund. The paper observed that Employees’ Compensation
faces some difficulties in terms of accessing their claims from the fund, which
is a crucial process for workers. The paper adopted a doctrinal research
methodology approach wherein relevant data obtained were analysed and the
observations brought out. The findings of the paper are that the employees do
not fully understand the purpose or benefit of the ECA and its objectives, and
there is minimal compliance with the provisions of the ECA from employers at
all levels, particularly on contribution to the fund.
Theoretical
Framework
The expectancy theory of motivation was propounded by Victor
Vroom. Vroom’s expectancy theory was an attempt to describe how an individual’s
motivation contributes to achieving a particular goal or performance, while the
target can be explained in terms of what outcome would become beneficial to the
individual as a result of achieving that goal and what value is placed on that
outcome (Banjoko, 2002). Vroom's theory is based on the belief that employee
effort will lead to performance, and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom,
1964). Essentially, the expectancy theory argues that the strength of a
tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of the expectation
that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of
that outcome to the individual (Robbins, 1989). According to Idemobi (2010),
the Expectancy Theory is a process theory developed that concentrates on the
outcomes. What Vroom explained in his theory is that to motivate employees or
people, the effort put in by the employees, the performance generated, and
motivation must be linked to one another.
The basic assumption of Vroom Expectancy Theory
i.
It assumes that behaviour
is determined by a combination of forces in the individual and the environment.
ii.
It assumes that people
make decisions about their behaviour in organisations.
iii.
It is assumed that
different people have different types of needs, desires, and goals.
iv.
It assumes that people
make choices from among alternative plans of behaviour, based on their
perceptions of the extent to which a given behaviour will lead to desired
outcomes.
Relevance of Vroom Expectancy Theory to the Study
According to Vroom, employee expectations can affect an
individual’s motivation. Therefore, the amount of effort employees exert on a
specific task depends on their expectations of the outcome. According to
Robbins (1989), the expectancy theory includes three variables or
relationships: attractiveness, performance-reward linkage, and effort-performance
linkage. Attractiveness explains the importance that an individual places on
the potential outcome or reward that can be achieved on the job. This considers
the unsatisfied needs of the individual. Performance-reward linkage is the
degree to which the individual believes that performing at a particular level
will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
The effort-performance linkage explains the perceived
probability by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead
to performance. These three factors, according to Vroom, combine and create a
"force" that stimulates or motivates an individual to put in the effort
to achieve a level of performance and then obtain end rewards. He suggested
that "force" or "effort" was a result of the multiples of
"expectancy" and "valence" (encompassing instrumentality)
in the formula, Force = Expectancy, Valence: F = f (E * V). This formula can be
used to indicate and predict things such as job satisfaction, occupational
choice, the likelihood of staying in a job, and the effort that one might
expend at work. This type of theory distinguishes between the most and the
least motivated employees (Redmond, 2009). Expectancy describes the belief of a
person that his or her effort (E) will result in the attainment of desired
performance (P) goals. Instrumentally: P = R: the belief of a person that he or
she will receive a reward if the performance (P) expectation is met. Valance is
then the value of the reward according to the person (is the reward attractive
to the person)?
The theory is useful in understanding the behaviour of people in
any work situation. This is because employees seem to weigh alternatives and
act based on how they value them. Equally, there is more to behaviour than can
be predicted by a rational decision model. Thus, expectancy theory becomes the
best for our understanding of workers' motivation and behaviour if viewed as a
part of the explanation of work motivation and behaviour that influence the
performance and job satisfaction of employees in any work situation. The
effectiveness of the expectancy theory from a managerial perspective relies on
the manager making assumptions about the motivational force of the reward for
the employee (s) Thus, the use of rewards needs to obey "the law of
effect," where positively rewarded behaviours will have a tendency to
augment in frequency, negatively or neutrally rewarded behaviours will tend to
diminish in frequency, and the type of reinforcement and its timing will impact
the frequency of the behaviour. Thus, a particular reward can fulfil multiple
outcomes, consequently adding to the sum of the valences.
Methodology
The paper adopts documentary and survey methods. The documentary
research method is the study of various documents, journals, government
publications, and other written materials that are relevant and valid in the
area of study by subjecting the various information to deductive reasoning to
find answers to research questions, while deductive reasoning implies that the
issues involved in the study are to be addressed through the collection of
relevant information, scrutinised, analysed, and interpreted to the text's
meaning before conclusions are reached.
The study relied on acceptable quality control criteria in
analysing documents. As cited in Abdulkadir (2015), these include authenticity,
credibility, representativeness, and meaning. Authenticity refers to the
reliability of the materials and sources of information described on the
materials as well as their relevance to the study and their validity to the
body of facts available. Credibility, on the other hand, indicates that the
evidence can stand the test of time as to its sources, the passage of time, the
transformation of the record over time, and its interpretation by others over some
time, especially when the documents are from government sources, as is the case
with this study. The concept of representativeness, however, refers to whether
the documents available at the disposal of the researcher represent the
totality of the documents needed to find answers to the research problem. Once
the evidence is inconclusive based on the facts on the ground, the credibility
of the study will certainly be in question. The last issue pertains to meaning.
The concept tries to establish the facts that all necessary information on the
documents is clear, understandable, logical, straightforward, and comprehensive
enough to guide the research in arriving at an acceptable conclusion at the end
of the study. This study attempts to evaluate the implementation of the
Employees Compensation Act on worker welfare in the Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS).
The population of this study is derived from the Federal Inland
Revenue Service Headquarters, Abuja, as at the time of this study, according to
the records from FIRS, the staff strength is 3,200
In
determining the sample size of the study, the researcher drew the population
from the entire beneficiaries of the Employee Compensation Acts (ECA) in the
selected department ICT, procurement, modernization, planning, reporting and
statistics and learning and development of the establishment. The population of
3,200 beneficiaries was considered rather large; hence a sample size of 399 was
used for this study. Out of the 399 sample
size, the study retrieves 225 questionnaires for its analysis
Discussion
of Results
1. Are
the employees in FIRS all aware of the compensation act
Table 1: The respondents were asked if
they were aware of the existence of the Employees’ Compensation Act 2011. The
responses of the respondents are presented below in Table
Variable |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strongly Agree |
36 |
16 |
Agree |
68 |
30.2 |
Strongly Disagree |
34 |
15.1 |
Disagree |
82 |
36.4 |
Undecided |
5 |
2.2 |
Total |
225 |
100 |
Source: Field survey, 2023
The respondents were asked to state
whether employees are aware of the existence of the Employee Compensation Act
in FIRS, the data obtained revealed that 36 (16%) of the respondents strongly
agreed, 68 representing (30.2%) of the respondents agreed while 34 representing
(15.1%) of the respondents strongly disagreed, 82 representing (36.4%) of the
respondents disagreed and 5 representing (2.2%) of the respondents were
undecided.
Table 2: Distribution of Respondents
on whether the employees have confidence in the Compensation Scheme Operated by
NSITF
Variable |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strongly Agree |
33 |
14.6 |
Agree |
56 |
24.8 |
Strongly Disagree |
48 |
21.3 |
Disagree |
74 |
32.8 |
Undecided |
14 |
6.2 |
Total |
225 |
100 |
Source: Field survey, 2023
Responses’ on whether the
employees have confidence in the Compensation Scheme Operated by NSITF revealed
that 33 representing (14.6%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 56
representing (24.8%) of the respondents agreed while 48 representing (21.3%) of
the respondents strongly disagreed, 74 representing (32.8%) of the respondents
disagreed and 14 representing (6.2%) of the respondents were undecided.
The employees of FIRS who suffer work-related disability are
adequately compensated
Table
3: Employees of FIRS who suffer work-related disability adequately compensated
Variable |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strongly Agree |
30 |
13.3 |
Agree |
55 |
24.4 |
Strongly Disagree |
48 |
21.3 |
Disagree |
80 |
35.5 |
Undecided |
12 |
5.3 |
Total |
225 |
100 |
Source: Field survey, 2023
The respondents were asked to state
whether employees
of FIRS who suffer from a work-related disability are adequately compensated 30 representing (13.3%) of respondents strongly agreed, 55
representing (24.4%) of the respondents agreed while 48 representing (21.3%) of
the respondents strongly disagreed, 80 representing (35.5%) respondents
disagreed and 12 representing (5.3%) of the respondents were undecided. The
data presented in the table is a serious cause of concern for NSITF and FIRS as
the majority of the workers (59%) disagreed employees of FIRS who suffer work-related
disability are adequately compensated
Table 4: The FIRS Board pays the employee
a monthly payment equal to 90 percent of the remuneration of the employee in
compliance with (Section 21(1) of the Act)
Variable |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strongly Agree |
33 |
14.6 |
Agreed |
55 |
24.4 |
Strongly Disagree |
45 |
20 |
Disagree |
75 |
33.3 |
Undecided |
17 |
7.5 |
Total |
225 |
100 |
Source: Field survey, 2023
The respondents were asked to state whether FIRS Board pays employees
a monthly payment equal to 90 per cent of the remuneration of the employee in
compliance with (Section 21(1) of the Act), the data obtained revealed that 33
representing (14.6%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 55 representing
(24.4%) of the respondents agreed while 55 representing (20%) of the
respondents strongly disagreed 75 representing (33.3%) of the respondents
disagreed and 17 representing (7.5%) of the respondents were undecided.
Employees who
suffered work-mental stress are being compensated in FIRS as provided in the
Compensation Act
Table 5: Employees who suffered
work mental stress are been compensated in FIRS
Variable |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strongly Agree |
46 |
20.4 |
Agree |
67 |
29.8 |
Strongly Disagree |
43 |
19.1 |
Disagree |
57 |
25.3 |
Undecided |
12 |
5.3 |
Total |
225 |
100 |
Source: Field survey, 2023
The data obtained revealed that 46 representing (20.4%) of
the respondents strongly agreed that employees who suffered work mental
stress been compensated in FIRS, 67 representing (29.8%) of the respondents
agreed while 43 representing (19.1%) of the respondents strongly disagreed, 57
representing (25.3%) of respondents disagreed and 12 representing (5.3%) of the
respondents were undecided.
The
Employees Compensation Act 2010 (ECA) is a welcome development. It will assist
in protecting and safeguarding the rights, well-being, and morale of the
workforce. It will eventually turn out to be of interest to the workers
themselves, the employers, and the economy. The acts would also go a long way
in breaching the gap in industrial relationships between labour groups and
organisations.
Analysis and
Results
The analysis and result of the data presented were carried
out with the aid of answering the research objectives formulated for the study.
Objective one is to
ascertain whether employees in FIRS are all aware of the compensation act, the
data obtained and analysed in Table 1 revealed that the majority of the
respondents are not aware of the compensation act within FIRS, hence Table 2
complemented the findings by revealing that even those that are aware do not
have confidence in the compensation scheme operated by NSITF.
Objective two is to
ascertain whether the employees of FIRS who suffer from a work-related
disability are adequately compensated, the data obtained and analysed revealed
that the majority of the respondents disagreed that employees of FIRS who
suffer work-related disabilities are adequately compensated, hence Table 4
complemented the finding by revealing the majority of the respondents disagreed
FIRS Board pays employee a monthly
payment equal to 90 percent of the remuneration of the employee in compliance to
(Section 21(1) of the Act).
Objective three is to
examine how employees who suffered work-mental stress are being compensated in
FIRS as provided in the Compensation Act, the data obtained in Table 5 revealed
majority of the respondents agreed that employees who suffered work-mental
stress are been compensated in FIRS.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that there is a
lack of awareness among the respondents regarding the compensation act within
the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS). This suggests that the employees may
not be well-informed about the compensation options available to them in cases
of work-related disabilities.
Furthermore, the majority of the respondents disagreed with
the notion that employees of FIRS who suffer work-related disabilities are
adequately compensated. This indicates a perceived gap or dissatisfaction with
the current compensation practices within the organization.
Interestingly, the majority of the respondents agreed that
employees who suffer from work-related mental stress are being compensated in
FIRS. This suggests that there might be a better understanding or awareness of
compensation provisions specifically related to mental stress or psychological
well-being.
In conclusion, the findings highlight a need for increased
awareness and information dissemination regarding the compensation act within
FIRS. Additionally, efforts should be made to address the perceived inadequacy
of compensation for work-related disabilities. This could help improve the
overall satisfaction and well-being of employees within the organization.
Based on the findings
the following recommendations are made:
i.
Increase Awareness: The FIRS should
develop comprehensive communication strategies to ensure that all employees
understand their rights and the compensation provisions available to them in
case of work-related disabilities. This can be achieved through regular
workshops, training sessions, and informative campaigns.
ii. Improve
Compensation for Work-Related Disabilities: FIRS should conduct a thorough
assessment of its current compensation system, taking into account industry
standards and best practices. By ensuring fair and adequate compensation for
work-related disabilities, FIRS can enhance employee satisfaction, well-being,
and overall morale.
iii. Address
Disparity in Mental Stress Compensation: FIRS should strive to ensure that all
employees receive fair and appropriate compensation for work-related mental
stress, with clear guidelines and support mechanisms in place.
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