Responsible people management and fairness during Covid-19 (Law and ethics-The case of Pan-Atlantic University)

When the world was informed about COVID-19 and the how the pandemic was going to affect human interactions, most organisations had not planned for such a crisis or expected a disease of that magnitude, and neither were there existing plans to forestall it. Some organisations made efforts to quickly adjust their human resource policies and employment contracts to accommodate the new work norms, sometimes in disregard of labour laws. The major interest of many managers was the survival of organisations' businesses and well-being of workers. In a bid to save economies, various countries made amendments to national employment laws to reflect new mechanisms for working in self-isolation, and legal solutions were proffered to buffer the effects of the restrictive measures that arose as a result of battling the spread of the pandemic. In some other countries, businesses did whatever they could to survive. This chapter focuses on the various lawful, equitable and fair people management strategies and practices adopted by some establishments with special reference to the Nigerian context. In particular, it presents the case of Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), one of the top private universities in Nigeria, to show a little example of what can be done in managing the imposed COVID-19 restrictive measures and other aftermaths of the pandemic. The chapter is divided into segments to show the various standards being applied under international laws and best practices in comparison with the current Nigerian employment laws and practices with a view to making recommendations for improvement in the people management sector. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.

Working from home and the dynamics for gender equity and the digital divide

Working from home has long been considered an exception applicable to freelancers and a limited number of jobs. In Nigeria, past research revealed that flexible work arrangements were attractive to many employees irrespective of gender but that managers were generally reluctant to accept flexibility in time and in space. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged this managerial mindset, obliging both men and women to move their workstation from the company premises to their home. This chapter tells what happened at the onset of the pandemic in Nigeria and looks at its impact on employing organisations, employees and families. It is found that (1) employers can benefit from substantial savings when employees work from home, (2) personality types, poor infrastructure, lack of digital skills, unequal access to internet and inadequate family support affect the experience of work from home for employees. Employers must be willing to provide necessary training and to give adequate support to employees working from home to help them defray additional expenses a home office entails. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.