ESSENTIALS OF A VALID CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONTD

Other essentials of a valid contract of employment are as follows:

4. For the contract of employment (Contract of Service) to be valid, its terms and conditions must be certain just as the parties must be certain and be capable of being identified reasonably. The contract will therefore not be binding where the terms and conditions are too ambiguous and uncertain. The terms and conditions spelling-out the obligations of the employer and those of the employee must be clear enough to give both sides comfort.

5. 'Concensus ad idem' (Mutual consent) is another essential requirement that must be manifest to give the contract of employment validity. The presence of Misrepresentation, Mistake, Fraud, Duress or Undue Interference affects the validity of this contract.

6. To be valid, a contract of employment must be legal and in accordance with the maxim, 'Ex turpi causa non oritur actio', the contract will be void if entered principally with the objective of performing an act prohobited by law. Both in its objective and mode of performance, the proposed contract must be legal, thus a contract for smuggling and procurement of girls for sexual gratification would be null and void as will one intended to defraud tax authorities e.g., by understating salaries in order to pay less Tax.

7. The condition of Contractual Capacity concerns the Insane, Infants and Women. Contracting parties must be of contractual age for them to be vested with Capacity to contract validly. Section 9(3) of the Nigerian Labour Act Cap L1 Laws of the Federation 2004 provides: 'Except in the case of a contract of apprenticeship, no person under the age of sixteen years shall be capable of entering into a contract of employment under this Act' Similarly, sections 55 to 57 of the Act regulates the aspect concerning women. Setion 55(1) provides: 'Subject to this section, no woman shall be employed on night work in a public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, or in any agricultural undertaking or any branch thereof'

It has been trite under Common Law that a legal infant can only contract for necessaries, and the contract must be beneficial to that infant, otherwise that contract may not stand when put to test, De Francesco v. Barnum (1890). Women would not normally be legally contracted for night duty (Except for Nurses and few other exceptions and situations).

The conditions illustrated in the foregoing must exist in their respective fashions before a valid Contract of Service/ Contract of Employment can exist.