Industrial Court Orders Microfinance Bank to Pay N5.6m Terminal Benefits Within 30 Days
The Presiding Judge, Calabar Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Sanusi Kado has ordered Unical Microfinance Bank to pay Mr Ben the sum of N5,637,221.73 (Five Million Six Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty One Naira Seventy Three Kobo) balance of unpaid terminal benefits as a result of use of wrong policy in calculating and computation of Mr. Ben’s terminal benefits, and the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira as cost of action within 30 days.
The Court resolved that the appropriate manual to calculate and compute Mr Ben’s terminal benefit is Personnel Policy Manual 2009, and not the purported 2015 Policy Manual.
From facts, the Claimant- Mr. Ben had submitted his appointment was confirmed vide letter dated 12/10/19 and he was elevated to the post of Head of Admin/Human Resources on 14/12/2015.
Mr. Ben averred that he was placed on grade of Senior Banking Officer with effect from 1/1/2016 which he protested for proper placement as manager. However, Mr Ben submitted that by letter dated 31/5/2016, he was forcefully disengaged from the services of the defendant despite serving without blemish for 17 years and 9 months.
Mr. Ben averred that in line with the amended Management and Personnel Policy Manual, he is entitled to a three-year annual gross salary for 15 years, and he was amazed that payment of his terminal benefits showed that his terminal benefit was not computed based on the amended Management and Personnel Policy manual of the Unical Microfinance Bank.
In defence, the defendant- Unical Microfinance Bank posited that contrary to the defendant at its 65th Regular meeting held on 26/6/2015, deliberated upon and adopted exhibit 25 as replacing Personnel Policy Manual 2009 that the criteria for the computation of Mr. Ben’s terminal benefits were rightly applied.
The Bank maintained that the severance policy referred to by Mr Ben applied to only staff who left service before 19/6/2014 and did not apply to those who left service after 26/6/2015.
The Bank averred that Mr Ben’s claim that he ought to be paid based on the 2009 policy manual is of no moment, as Mr. Ben cannot pick and choose an obsolete, abandoned and repealed policy manual simply because it would favour him more, and urged the Court to dismiss the case with cost.
In opposition, the claimant’s counsel, Nta Aye Esq stated that there was no other amendment or review of the policy before his forceful disengagement from the services of Unical Microfinance Bank, on 31/5/2016 that the committee including himself set up by the bank to review the policy did not conclude its work to bring the manual into force at the time his client was forcefully disengaged from the service of the bank.
Under cross-examination, the witness to the Unical Microfinance Bank told the court that the evidence he gave was from what he read in the records of the bank and the record which he read was not brought before the court for inspection.
Delivering judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Sanusi Kado held that the evidence of witness to the Unical Microfinance Bank before the court does not have the required weight that will make it have any evidential value to make any impact on the position taken by the bank on the ground that the witness was not in the service of the bank when Mr. Ben served the bank for 17 years 9 months.
Justice Kado maintained that Unical Microfinance Bank exhibit 27 was backdated to deny Mr Ben his appropriate terminal benefit, and the bank deliberately refused to issue exhibit C12 to Mr Ben until three years after the termination of his employment.
The Court resolved that the appropriate manual to calculate and compute Mr Ben’s terminal benefit is Personnel Policy Manual 2009 as amended, and not the 2015 manual tendered by Unical Microfinance Bank.
