Employers’ Associations and the Regulation of Employment Relations in Nigeria’s Construction Industry: A Professional Perspective

This study examines the role of employers' associations in regulating employment relations in Nigeria's construction industry, with specific reference to associations operating in the South West and North Central geopolitical zones. Nigeria's construction sector, one of the country's fastest-growing industries, employs millions of formal and informal workers under highly varied and often exploitative conditions, making the regulatory role of employers' associations a critical governance issue. A professional practice research design was employed, with data gathered from 80 construction company executives, association officials, and senior HR practitioners through structured interviews and document analysis. The Pluralist Industrial Relations Theory and the Tripartite Employment Relations Framework provide the conceptual basis. Findings reveal that employer associations in Nigeria's construction sector play a primarily ceremonial rather than regulatory role, issuing industry guidelines that most member companies do not adopt in practice. The study further finds that the absence of industry-wide collective agreements between employers' associations and construction workers' unions results in a fragmented wage landscape with significant regional and skill-grade pay inequities. Recommendations include the reinvigoration of joint industrial councils for construction, incentivizing employers' association membership through regulatory benefits, and aligning construction employment standards with ILO conventions ratified by Nigeria. This study contributes to the professional discourse on employment relations governance in Nigeria's built environment sector and is relevant to the Nigerian Institute of Building, construction HRM practitioners, and the Federal Ministry of Labour. Keywords: employers' associations, employment relations, construction industry, collective bargaining, Nigeria