The Nigerian Senate has passed the Informal Sector Employment Regulation Bill, 2025 a landmark piece of legislation aimed at protecting millions of domestic workers, apprentices, and interns from sexual abuse, exploitation, hazardous work conditions and unpaid labour.
The bill, presented by Senator Diket Plang, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, seeks to formalise employment relationships in the informal sector and guarantee basic rights long denied to vulnerable workers. Senator Plang said the legislation was prompted by rising cases of sexual assault, forced labour, torture and non-payment of wages involving domestic staff across the country.
He noted that the bill aligns with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), urging governments to regulate domestic work and protect workers’ dignity and safety.
The legislation outlines key provisions including: mandatory formalization of domestic work arrangements; protection from sexual harassment, physical abuse and exploitation; guaranteed fair wages; decent working conditions; and adequate rest periods. It also provides for the establishment of a biometric database of domestic workers and employers to be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The bill further seeks to prevent child labour within domestic service, ensure access to food and basic welfare, and extend social security and healthcare to workers in the informal employment space.
At a public hearing on July 22, 2024, the proposed law received strong support from major stakeholders, including the Federal Ministries of Labour and Women Affairs, the Nigeria Police Force, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), labour groups and civil society organisations. Stakeholders described the bill as timely, emphasising its potential to curb widespread abuses associated with unregulated domestic employment, such as sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and kidnapping.
Following clause-by-clause consideration on the Senate floor, the bill was read for the third time and passed through a unanimous voice vote, paving the way for its transmission to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
Share this
