Employee Arrest and Conviction in the Course of Work: Does an Employer Owe an Employee a Duty of Care Under Nigerian Law?

Abstract

The duty of care is recognised under Nigeria law. It arises from Nigerian statute such as the
Factories Act and common law. It entails that an employer has a duty to protect an employee from
harm in the course of work. Where an employee suffers a damage from a breach of the duty, an
employer is held liable for the breach. It is however unclear if the duty of care extends to protection
of employees from arrest and conviction arising from or in the course of work. Based on the
foregoing, an assessment of the Nigerian law is done to ascertain whether an employer has a duty
to protect an employee from arrest and conviction arising from performance of his duties under a
contract of employment. It was found that the Nigerian law is silent on compensation of employees
for financial losses. Also, there is no provision in the Nigerian law on an employer’s indemnity for
loss of earnings. It was recommended that the Nigerian law should extend the duty of care to cover
employee arrest and conviction thereby enabling the courts to award damages for arrest and/ or
conviction where it is fair and reasonable to do so.