Reinstatement in Master-Servant Employment Relationship

A Detour from Conventional Nigerian Labour Law Rule

Abstract

The dominant view among most Nigerian judges and legal commentators is that reinstatement is available for only confirmed and pensionable employees whose employments are statutory flavour. Reinstatement is hardly awarded in private employment. The extant Nigerian Labour Law is often disposed to granting only damages in case of unlawful termination of an employee in the private sector. It however seems the rule is changing to the extent that reinstatement can be ordered by the Court even when an employment is not statutorily flavoured. Although in the past, some judges seemed ready to order reinstatement where an employee could establish the existence of special circumstances but only few judges have made strenuous effort in awarding this relief. The recent case of Bello Ibrahim v. Ecobank Plc is one of the judicial authorities which recognizes and awarded reinstatement in private employment. This decision is a detour from conventional Nigerian labour rule. It is hoped that this decision will dispel all doubts as to the award of reinstatement in a master-servant employment relationship. The methodology adopted in this paper is doctrinal. Primary and secondary materials were studied in arriving at a conclusion. This work opines that reinstatement in private employment is a step in the right direction as it will reduce the powers of overbearing employers.