The National Industrial Court, on Thursday declared that the non-payment of salary and non-remittance of pension contributions of a teacher, Mrs Udeme Akerele, as wrongful.
The court therefore ordered payment of her one month salary, remittance of the pension contributions to the necessary authority and awarded cost of suit in her favour.
Delivering judgment, Justice Rakiya Haastrup, held that the defendant’s argument that there was no reasonable cause of action established against them in the suit, she said the claimant’s statement of facts did disclose a dispute with the defendant, which bordered on her employment, claim for her salary and pension.
The judge further said because the defendant during cross examination did not deny that the claimant was entitled to pension and same were deducted,
She said “it is trite law that when evidence is not challenged or contradicted, it seeks to establish.such evidence will be accepted as proof of a fact.
Haastrup added that the argument of the defendant that the claimant was not entitled to be paid for the month of August because she did not give the required four weeks notice before her resignation, therefore that the claimant breached the terms and conditions of her employment.
She said failure of the defendant to present the said terms and conditions that was breached before
the court was detrimental to the defendant’s case.
She said ” in view of the above, the issue is resolved in favour of the claimant to the effect that one week’s notice was the required time the claimant was obliged to give the defendant.
She therefore ordered the defendant to pay the claimant her Aug, 2017 salary of N76,722, less one week that represented the notice of resignation.
The judge also directed the defendant to compute and remit intp the claimant’s pension account her monthly pension contributions as well as the defendant’s own contributions.
She also awarded the sum of N50,000 in favour of the claimant as cost of prosecuting the suit.
Haastrup concluded by saying the sums shall be paid within 30 days from the day of judgment, after which the judgment sum shall attract 10 percent annual interest.
Akerele dragged her former employer, Holborn Academy, a private school where she worked as an Early Year Teacher to seek redress when her salary for her the month she resigned was not paid.
She also sought for an order of court to direct the defendant to remit to her pension account the sum of N48,960 being accumulated compulsory contributory pension deduction of her salary done by the school at N4,080 which she discovered was never remitted when she resigned from the school on Aug. 31, 2017.
Akerele equally sought an order of the court directing the defendant to remit into her pension account the sum of N102,000 being accumulated contributory pension representing 10 per cent of her monthly salary , as defendant’s own contribution, from when she was employed in Sept.2016, until Aug. 2017 when she resigned
NAN report that the claimant in her statement of facts said she was employed on monthly salary of N85,000 and net monthly salary of N76,722 after deductions of pension and PAYE, deductions she discovered after her resignation were never remitted.
