Lecture notes
Employer's Liability Notes for the Tort Law Unit of the PGDL
- Module
- Tort Law (TLW)
- Institution
- University Of Law (ULaw)
Employer's Liability Notes for the Tort Law Unit of the PGDL
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👨🏻💼EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY
Employers are obliged to insure against potential liability, successful claimants
usually get paid in full. When an employee is injured at work, they have a number of
ways of suing the employer to obtain compensation, namely; Negligence and
Vicarious liability. Employees also often bring claims under the Occupiers’ Liability
Act 1957.
📌 Three areas of potential liability for employers: health and safety;
common law negligence; vicarious liability.
STATUTORY HEALTH AND SAFETY
REGULATIONS
💡 S. 69 of the Enterprise and Regulation Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013)
has made employers criminally liable for breaches of regulations relating to
health and safety made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974.
This means that employees who have suffered damage because of their
employer’s non-compliance can no longer action these breaches under a civil
claim for breach of statutory duty. Wronged employees are still be able to bring
claims against their employer in negligence…
HOWEVER a court assessing a claim for breach of duty in negligence by an
employer will most likely look to answer two questions:
1. which risks the employer should have foreseen;
2. which precautions should he have taken to respond to those risks.
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY 1
, Where relevant, existing statutory health and safety
regulations will likely be used by the courts to answer those
two questions above.
Employers’ Liability Defective Equipment Act 1969: Parliament acted to reverse
the effect of the decision in Davie by passing this act. The employer’s common law
obligation to provide safe equipment has thus been extended by statute. Because
of this statute, the employer is 'deemed' to be at fault when damage is caused by a
defect in equipment purchased by the employer for use in its business.
An employer can then sue its own supplier in contract or join them as a joint
tortfeasor. But because of the ELDEA 1969, it’s the employer who has the problem of
chasing the supplier of the defective equipment not the injured worker.
COMMON LAW NEGLIGENCE
💡 STEP ONE: DUTY OF CARE → Set out the duties that employers owe
to their employees.
An employer owes its employees a duty to take reasonable care of their safety
while at work (non- delegable).
McDermid v Nash Dredging: The House of Lords confirmed that employers
CAN delegate tasks to their employees or subcontractors, but they CAN’T
delegate the DUTY they owe to their employees. The employer’s duty to
ensure that care is taken is non-delegable. So, for example, an employer
can’t escape liability by arguing that the factory foreeen was told to make
sure no one got hurt.
This established duty situation involves five separate, non-delegable duties.
(Wilsons & Clyde Coal v English)
Lord Wright’s judgement in Wilsons & Clyde Coal Co. v English described the
employers’ duty of care as a general duty that could be broken down into various
component parts. In fulfilling his or her duty not to cause injury, the employer is
expected to provide.
1. Competent fellow workers
2. A safe place of work
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY 2
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