On Monday, March 21st, TechCabal dropped a bombshell on Nigeria’s technology industry. Their article titled Tyranny in the workplace: The chaotic culture of Bento Africa exposed the harsh reality of working at a startup in Nigeria. While the article was about one company, the response to the article on social media widened the discussion to cover the entire industry and other industries including Nollywood, as employees share heart-breaking stories about their experience working for various Nigerian companies.
“Employees would just wake up to see they have been locked out of their work emails and platforms. No warning, no queries, no chance to defend yourself. Severance is not paid and the final month’s salary is routinely withheld by the company”.
In the case of Bento, according to the TechCabal article, we see a company that has institutionalised bullying of its employees by the chief executive officer, Ebun Okunbajo. Employees and ex-employees shared horror stories of Okubanjo tongue-lashing them and using obscenities when addressing them. Apart from this, there was also the issue of lack of respect for work-life balance with employees being constantly expected to work at any time the CEO wanted and being on call to receive instructions and attend to emails throughout the day.
There was arbitrary firing without any pretence to follow any procedures. Employees would just wake up to see they have been locked out of their work emails and platforms. No warning, no queries, no chance to defend yourself. Severance is not paid and the final month’s salary is routinely withheld by the company. If you are wondering, all these are pretty much illegal according to our labour laws.
Also Read: Remote Workers are Happier, More Loyal to Employers; New Report Claims
While these activities may be illegal and unethical, Bento is not alone in perpetuating them. Using the hashtag #HorribleBosses and through several conversations via Twitter Spaces, employees called out several tech companies including Kuda, GoKada, and ULesson. Several issues highlighted include lack of respect for employees, lack of processes and systems to deal with human resources issues, underpayment, and overworking employees without compensation. The bad practices are so mainstream that the founder of SendChamp and Sprinble, Goodness Kayode came online to defend his company’s practice of forcing people to work overnight without compensation. His defence? The employees agreed to the arrangement in their contract.
I remember once arguing with another business owner on Twitter on the propriety of deducting employees’ salary for coming late to the office. I was shocked that an educated business owner operating in Nigeria’s economic capital would have no idea that this deduction is illegal regardless of whether the employees have agreed to it in their contracts.
Making people agree to illegal employment terms as a precondition for offering them employment does not make those terms fair or legal. It is important young and new business owners and executives acquaint themselves with Nigerian labour laws. Even if enforcing the laws is currently not the priority for the government, companies must still try their best to follow the laws and do the right thing by their workers. Treating your employees well can have a significant positive impact on their morale and your business.
It is therefore a good thing that some of the companies called out are already taking steps to address the issues in their human resources management. Or at least they are claiming to. Bento has asked its CEO to step aside from dealing with employee-related issues while committing to reform its workplace culture. Ulesson has offered an apology and promised to do better. All employers, those called out and those lucky not to be named yet, must realise the impact of their workplace practices on the larger labour market.
Also Read: Bento, Nigerian HR Management Platform, Expands to Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda
For years now, many executives and business owners have complained about struggling to get the talent they need to run their businesses. They complain about the unemployability of graduates and the lack of professionalism of workers they do manage to get. But it seems these employers of labour don’t realise how their actions can contribute to the dearth of competent and professional workers in the country. What’s the motivation for employees to give their best when their employers treat them like thrash? Employers might count on a high unemployment rate to force people to work in horrible conditions, but they should not be surprised that the employees they get are uninspired and unready to give their best.
