Employment Practices And Working Conditions Among Contract Employees In The American Oil Companies In Nigeria And The United States Of America

ABSTRACT

This study examined employment practices and working conditions among contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA) with a focus on comparative analysis of their working hours, remuneration, occupational health and safety, and degree of access to social protection. From a list of 12,736 contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria and the USA, a total of 600 respondents were randomly selected from Chevron and ExxonMobil through the simple and stratified sampling techniques. Based on a cross-sectional survey research design, a structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated and a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient (0.86) was established. The data from the structured questionnaire were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. The data from in-depth interviews were analysed through content and narrative analysis. The main finding revealed a significant difference in some aspects of the working conditions among contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria and the USA in terms of remuneration, occupational health and safety, and working hours in Chevron. The level of remuneration among contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria was significantly different from that of the USA (t = -10.944; mean difference = -.52383; p = 0.000). There was a significant difference in the working hours among contract employees in Chevron Nigeria compared to their counterparts in the USA (t = - 3.984; mean difference = - 0.175; p = 0.000). In contrast, the findings showed that there was no significant difference in some aspects of the working conditions among contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria and the USA in terms of managerial control, the degree of access to social protection, and working hours in ExxonMobil. The degree of managerial control of contract employees in the American oil companies in Nigeria was not significantly different from that of the USA (t = -0.722; mean difference = -0.037; p = 0.471). Also, there was no significant difference in the working hours among contract employees in ExxonMobil Nigeria and their counterparts in the USA (t = -1.199; mean difference = -.06269; p = 0.232). The study concluded that the contract employees in the American oil companies in the USA enjoyed better working conditions compared to their counterparts in Nigeria. Therefore, there is need for improvement in the working conditions among contract employees in Nigeria, through public policy and advocacy.