Hourly Wage: Low-Income Employers Tell Neusroom How It Will Affect Their Business If Implemented
There has been an ongoing conversation about Nigeria implementing an hourly wage structure instead of a monthly salary scheme as suggested by Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in his ‘draft manifesto’ which was reportedly leaked to the public on October 31, 2022.
Although Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, claimed the manifesto shared on social media via the official Twitter handle of the party was a draft that shouldn’t have been released, some of the plans in the ‘draft manifesto’ has been generating heated debate online.
One of the plans being debated is the LP’s candidate’s plan to introduce an hourly wage structure in line with the practice common in America and Europe where minimum wages are set hourly rather than monthly.
In Nigeria, the conversation has largely been examined from the perspective of how the structure will affect white-collar jobs if implemented. While some feel it will increase opportunities for workers to explore additional job opportunities, others are of the opinion that it would short-change workers, especially in big cities where commuting makes it difficult to move from one job site to another.
But how will this impact small businesses if implemented?
Bilikis Ojo. who owns a restaurant at Moshalashi Bus stop in Shasha area of Alimosho local government of Lagos, believes it is a bad idea. She believes that in her line of business, the service of the workers is needed almost at all times except when they are on break and so working for a few hours somewhere to go and work in other places on the same day is not efficient for the business owner.
She told Neusroom: “Apart from the salary that I pay my girls who help with cooking food and serving my customers, I also provide them with a place to sleep and they don’t buy food to eat. Although people might say what I am paying them is not much but I can tell you for a fact that 90 per cent of that money, they put into ajo (thrift contribution). Why? Because they don’t pay for food and accommodation. If somebody feels that I am using them anyhow and that I should be paying them by the hour, no problem but that means no food and accommodation for them. They can go and collect that from the other person they work for.”
Adeleke Adekanmbi who owns a bakery in the Agege area of Lagos said he has some workers he pays monthly while casual workers are paid on a daily basis. He said while he does not know how an hourly wage structure will work, he doesn’t it will benefit his business.
“If I employ someone as a casual worker for a day, then I expect the person to be available throughout the day. There might be periods during the day when they are not doing anything, it is better for me to have them around because of the nature of the bread business. I think I will prefer daily wages for every worker so on days when the person does not work, there won’t be a need to pay them.”
In a report by Jobberman in collaboration with Young Africa Works and Mastercard Foundation, 23 million active youths are unemployed as of 2022. Of those who are employed, some are working menial jobs that categorise them as underemployed. While experts believe hourly wage structure will make work flexible for low-income earners to access multiple strings of income from different employers, small business employers may have a hard time coming to terms with this development if implemented.
Currently, Nigeria’s minimum wage is N30,000 per month. However, not all states have implemented it despite it being signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Cross River, Abia and Imo are yet to fully implement the minimum wage.
Isiak Gbadebo who has a commercial bus (danfo) that plies Ipaja to Alagbado route said he does not have a fixed conductor because “they are always coming and going” but that anytime he has one, the person offers their service for the whole day which makes work easier to plan.
“I am 60 years old. On some days, I just want to drive without focusing on collecting money. If I do not have a conductor around, I leave my vehicle at home that day. If I have a conductor, I need his service from morning to night. He might not work for me the next day and go to someone else but for that one day, I own him. We start the work together and finish it together at night. If he goes to work for another driver say in the morning, where will I find him to work for me in the evening in this kind of business where I am by 7 am is not where I will be by 7.30? There is no way hourly work and wage structure will favour me.”
