Dear HR Professionals, please, I need your advice on this matter:
I joined a fishing company in February 2021 as an HR Manager, and there was no existing HR department. The company was established over three decades ago with a staff strength of over 600 employees and is a unionized company in Nigeria.
HR Audit Findings
I carried out an HR audit and concluded that there were no processes in place, no documentation of performance, no job descriptions, no training records, and career planning and recruitment were out of place. The Managing Director emphasized the urgent need to review the handbook, which I have completed. The old handbook included gratuity calculations such as: 1-5 years = one basic salary for every completed year plus variable pay, 5-10 years = 3 months' salary plus variable, and 10 years and above = 5 months' salary plus variable for every completed year. The new handbook has not been reviewed and approved yet. For example, the gratuity of an accountant who has served the company for 30 years amounts to 15 million naira, while a driver amounts to 17 million naira.
Gratuity Practice Concerns
My questions: How should I nullify this old gratuity practice to avoid the risk of massive resignations when the new gratuity calculation of basic salary multiplied by the number of years is introduced?
Is there any legal implication of voiding and nullifying old gratuity calculations using the new general practice?
Handling Non-Active Employees
How do I handle non-active employees due to age? They have been casual for 15 years and were recently converted to permanent employees in 2020 but cannot do the job due to age. How do we calculate their benefits?
Health Issues Among Crew Personnel
How do we handle crew personnel who have consistent blood pressure issues? We have crews onshore but can't utilize them due to high blood pressure, and we end up sourcing third parties. Please, what does the law say about this?
Transport Officer Issues
How do I handle a transport officer who deliberately delays or denies me access to a driver for official work? When I call from our Jetty office to request a driver to pick me up from the Jetty office to the head office, he ignores my calls and messages unless I use an unknown number before he picks up. It's affecting me.
Perception and Communication Challenges
Employees, including accounts, GM corporate affairs, and others, see me as an intruder. How do I change this perception?
What is your view on the admin officer countering my meeting venue on the mail I generated without consulting me?
Please, my professional colleagues, I need your advice on the above-mentioned matters.
From Nigeria, Lagos
I joined a fishing company in February 2021 as an HR Manager, and there was no existing HR department. The company was established over three decades ago with a staff strength of over 600 employees and is a unionized company in Nigeria.
HR Audit Findings
I carried out an HR audit and concluded that there were no processes in place, no documentation of performance, no job descriptions, no training records, and career planning and recruitment were out of place. The Managing Director emphasized the urgent need to review the handbook, which I have completed. The old handbook included gratuity calculations such as: 1-5 years = one basic salary for every completed year plus variable pay, 5-10 years = 3 months' salary plus variable, and 10 years and above = 5 months' salary plus variable for every completed year. The new handbook has not been reviewed and approved yet. For example, the gratuity of an accountant who has served the company for 30 years amounts to 15 million naira, while a driver amounts to 17 million naira.
Gratuity Practice Concerns
My questions: How should I nullify this old gratuity practice to avoid the risk of massive resignations when the new gratuity calculation of basic salary multiplied by the number of years is introduced?
Is there any legal implication of voiding and nullifying old gratuity calculations using the new general practice?
Handling Non-Active Employees
How do I handle non-active employees due to age? They have been casual for 15 years and were recently converted to permanent employees in 2020 but cannot do the job due to age. How do we calculate their benefits?
Health Issues Among Crew Personnel
How do we handle crew personnel who have consistent blood pressure issues? We have crews onshore but can't utilize them due to high blood pressure, and we end up sourcing third parties. Please, what does the law say about this?
Transport Officer Issues
How do I handle a transport officer who deliberately delays or denies me access to a driver for official work? When I call from our Jetty office to request a driver to pick me up from the Jetty office to the head office, he ignores my calls and messages unless I use an unknown number before he picks up. It's affecting me.
Perception and Communication Challenges
Employees, including accounts, GM corporate affairs, and others, see me as an intruder. How do I change this perception?
What is your view on the admin officer countering my meeting venue on the mail I generated without consulting me?
Please, my professional colleagues, I need your advice on the above-mentioned matters.
From Nigeria, Lagos
Every country has its own labor laws or regulations. Particularly, if a country is a member of the ILO and has ratified its conventions on service conditions of labor from time to time, there would certainly be laws or regulations in place. Therefore, it is advisable for you to verify the labor laws of Nigeria and assess the maintainability of the provisions of your company's regulations. If they run counter to the legal provisions of the concerned laws, you have the justification to make amends.
From India, Salem
From India, Salem
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