MINORS IN MODELLING AND THE DISREGARD FOR LABOUR LAWS IN NIGERIA
By: Ali Afegbua
This is a follow up to a previous write up on the same topic of modellingin Nigeria, but I shall delve deeper into the law and what we should all know,
for breaking such laws and claiming ignorance will not stand as a good defence in
court, when prosecuted.
Modelling can be defined as the use of human specimens with near
perfect proportions for a variety of purposes, as performers and entertainers; the
fashion industry has utilised models for centuries and the business of modelling
has been one compared to a flesh trade, due to its very nature of seeking out
perfect human specimens to display to the world, sometimes showing models in
the nude for brand specific marketing of glamour products and cosmetics.
Modelling agents around the world today are known for their unquenchable
appetites
for the next best thing in modelling, and with the never ending
traffic of young girls and boys seeking to be “discovered”, I must say more
than a few laws have been broken in the process, especially where minors are
involved.
In Africa, and more specifically Nigeria, there are laws which monitor
employer-employee relationships (Labour Act, Workmen’s Compensation Act etc)
but these are largely ignored by the mostly ignorant agents dealing in the
models, the profession has been reduced to a mere flesh trade, and just anybody
with a phone and a facebook account can announce himself as a modelling agent. It'll
be tough for the state to monitor and enforce these rules, especially since
models are technically considered "freelance contractors" instead of
"employees." The dotted lines are left mostly blank by these models,
who then suffer the effects of exploitation and abuse.
Section 91 (1) Labour Act;
"Contract" means contract of employment, and includes a
contract of apprenticeship;
"contract of employment" means any agreement, whether oral or
written, express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as a
worker and that other person agrees to serve the employer as a worker”
"worker" means any person who has entered into or works under
a contract with an employer, whether the contract is for manual labour or
clerical work or is expressed or implied or oral or written, and whether it is
a contract of service or a contract personally to execute any work or labour,
but does not include-
(a) any person employed otherwise than for the purposes of the
employer's business, or…
The above section as in application in Nigeria, states specifically
who a worker is, and the implication of having an exclusive modelling contract,
means a model is the worker of that agency, as by virtue of her contract she is
disallowed from working with any other agency as a model, throughout the span of
the modelling contract. Some might argue that the model is simply a contractor
who should not be taken seriously as a staff, but this same argument leads to
the exploitation of minors and the largely gullible youth who enter into modelling
without any information as to how they are being exploited, some of these
models don’t get paid for months, and when they do get paid the fees are not
what was promised.
An example of this, is one of the fashion weeks organised in Lagos,
Arise Fashion Week, where international organisers sort to work with local
models from Nigeria, in addition to the foreign models being flown into
Nigeria. The fees negotiated by the international agencies where considerably
larger than those paid to the models from Nigeria, none of the models even knew
how much they were to be paid, as the agents didn’t reveal how much they
negotiated or what percentage they would take out of such wages.
The agents sometimes split the models wages in half or held on to the
fees months after they had been paid by the clients without any formal documentation.
The above goes on as there is no law to regulate the way models and performers
are treated or what wages they are entitled to; this is not the case in
developed economies where there are now legislations specifically for models
and performers.
Minors in Nigeria continue to be lost in all the confusion, as parents
that allow their underage children to be performers, do not conform to any set
rules or laws as to the child’s welfare and compensation as compared to an
existing New York legislation, which has had a serious impact on the fashion
industry, it provides in summary that;
1. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a chaperone.
2. Minor models will require a special permit to work.
3. Employers will have to apply for a certificate of eligibility to
hire children, and fill out additional paperwork notifying the state of
specific dates, times, and locations of the jobs beforehand.
4. Child models won't be allowed to work after midnight or return to
work less than twelve hours after they've left.
5. If child models miss more than three days of school, their employer
is required to provide them with a tutor and a space to study.
6. Fifteen percent of a child model's income will be placed into a
trust account that they can only access when they turn 18.
If there was a similar legislation in Nigeria, agencies like Mic-dunamis,
Isis Models and Beth Model Management in Lagos; would think twice about the age
of their models before hiring, and would better protect these underage models
in their books.
We have heard of the numerous sex scandals involving models,
photographers and agents, which don’t lead to sexual harassment suits; the
exploitation of the naïve youth who work as models without any form of parental
protection or chaperoning. Sadly, this is the norm in the modelling and entertainment
businesses, and the unethical practices prevents any formal structures from
forming, the international standards that are exaggerated and flaunted about by
the newer agencies may not be adhered to by the advertising agencies who are presently
more used to an informal way of seeking talents for their marketing campaigns;
and in collaboration with the modelling agents, sometimes unlawfully exploit
the models by paying stipends instead of well defined fees.
The only solution is a strict law to monitor the activities of these establishments;
this will help prevent the continued exploitation of a very vulnerable chunk of
the Nigerian labour force.
References:
1.
Labour
Act Chapter L1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
3.
Workmen’s
Compensation Act
Image source; teen vogue
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