Employment Torts: Information Guide
September 16, 2006
Worksheet 1
EMPLOYMENT TORTS
Employer’s Liability
1. Introduction
The basis of the liability of an employer for negligence in respect of injury suffered by his employee during the course of the employee’s work is twofold: 1. He may be liable for breach of the personal duty of care which he owes to each employee; 2. He may be vicariously liable for breach by one employee of the duty of care which that employee owes to his fellow employees.
The action against the employer for damages by the employee who suffers personal injury on the job is only one of the methods available for compensation for workplace accidents.
2. Common Law Duties of the Employer
There are essentially implied terms of the contract of employment – ‘It is quite clear that the contract between employer and employed, involves on the part of the former the duty of taking reasonable care to provide proper appliances, and to maintain them in a proper condition, and so to carry on his operations as not to subject those employed by him to unnecessary risk…” per Lord Herschell in Smith v. Baker
This was later refined in Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co v. English and in Davie v. New Merton Board Mills Ltd. The duty is now regarded as four-fold and is non-delegable. In sum, the employer must take reasonable care to provide: 1. A competent staff of workers; 2. Adequate plant and equipment; 3. A safe system of working; and 4. A safe place of work.
The common law duty of an employer to his employees was enunciated in Davie v. New Merton Board Mills Ltd [1959] 1 All ER 346 as a duty to take reasonable care for their safety i.e. you owe an employee a duty of care not to cause them damage.
In that case, in 1946 an old-established firm of toolmakers made a drift (a tool consisting of a tapered bar of steel about one foot long) which had a latent defect, viz, excessive hardness of the steel due to negligent heat treatment. In July,
Worksheet 1
EMPLOYMENT TORTS
Employer’s Liability
1. Introduction
The basis of the liability of an employer for negligence in respect of injury suffered by his employee during the course of the employee’s work is twofold: 1. He may be liable for breach of the personal duty of care which he owes to each employee; 2. He may be vicariously liable for breach by one employee of the duty of care which that employee owes to his fellow employees.
The action against the employer for damages by the employee who suffers personal injury on the job is only one of the methods available for compensation for workplace accidents.
2. Common Law Duties of the Employer
There are essentially implied terms of the contract of employment – ‘It is quite clear that the contract between employer and employed, involves on the part of the former the duty of taking reasonable care to provide proper appliances, and to maintain them in a proper condition, and so to carry on his operations as not to subject those employed by him to unnecessary risk…” per Lord Herschell in Smith v. Baker
This was later refined in Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co v. English and in Davie v. New Merton Board Mills Ltd. The duty is now regarded as four-fold and is non-delegable. In sum, the employer must take reasonable care to provide: 1. A competent staff of workers; 2. Adequate plant and equipment; 3. A safe system of working; and 4. A safe place of work.
The common law duty of an employer to his employees was enunciated in Davie v. New Merton Board Mills Ltd [1959] 1 All ER 346 as a duty to take reasonable care for their safety i.e. you owe an employee a duty of care not to cause them damage.
In that case, in 1946 an old-established firm of toolmakers made a drift (a tool consisting of a tapered bar of steel about one foot long) which had a latent defect, viz, excessive hardness of the steel due to negligent heat treatment. In July,