Section 55 of the Labour Act in Nigeria. Night work

(1) Subject to this section, no woman shall be: employed on night work in a public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, or in any agricultural undertaking or any branch thereof.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to women employed as nurses, in any public or private industrial undertaking or in any agricultural undertaking, nor to women holding responsible positions of management who are not ordinarily engaged in manual labour; and in any proceedings brought under or in connection with the said subsection (1) of this section, it shall be a good defence if it is shown to the satisfaction of the court trying the proceedings that-

(a) the night work in question was due to an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee and which is not of a recurring character; or

(b) the night work in question had to do with raw material or materials in course of treatment which are subject to rapid deterioration, and it was necessary to preserve such materials from certain loss.

(3) In this section, "night" means-

(a) as respects industrial undertakings, a period of at least eleven (or, where an order under subsection

(4) below applies, ten) consecutive hours including the interval between ten o'clock in the evening and five o'clock in the morning; and

(b) as respect agricultural undertakings, a period of at least nine consecutive hours including the interval between nine o'clock in the evening and four o'clock in the morning.

(4) The Minister may by order permit the eleven-hour period mentioned in subsection (3) (a) of this section to be reduced to ten hours on not more than sixty days in any one year in respect of any industrial undertaking if he is satisfied that the undertaking is influenced by the seasons of the year or that the reduction is necessary because of special circumstances.

(5) The Minister may by order exclude from the application of this section, those women covered by a collective agreement in force which permits night work for women, but before making such an order the Minister shall satisfy himself that adequate provision exists for the transportation and protection of the women concerned.

Section 55 of the Labour Act in Nigeria

Act structure