ABSTRACT
The traditional idea of labour relations typically involves the employer and the employee, with the status and relationship of the parties clearly expressed between them. More recently, however, a trend seems to have settled on this field of law, like morning dews on a green field. Employment relationships now consist of third parties, namely, the employer, worker and end user (third party) thus creating an unusual phenomenon known as ‘Triangular Employment’.
With Triangular Employment, labour relationships have become more complex, with the roles of parties seemingly overlapping, and their status literally unknown. Furthermore, this ‘triangular’ shift appears to have created a lacuna in the Nigerian Labour Law as the existing legal framework does not exactly fit into the arrangement, especially concerning the rights and protection of employees. This could become even more challenging considering that the employer in the labour relationship is not easily identifiable.
This article appraises the nature and legal framework for triangular employment under Nigerian labour law and a comparative analysis of this form arrangement with that of New Zealand and Ethiopia.
