The employer’s duty of care


Published by a ÀÏ˾»úÎçÒ¹¸£Àû PI & Clinical Negligence expert
Practice notes

The employer’s duty of care


Published by a ÀÏ˾»úÎçÒ¹¸£Àû PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes
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This Practice Note considers the scope of an employer’s common law duty to ensure the safety of their employees with specific reference to the duty to provide safe premises, plant, system of working and staff. This Practice Note also considers the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013) and the fact that there is no civil liability for breach of the workplace health and safety regulations unless the relevant regulation provides for it. As such, all cases must be brought in negligence. To succeed in a case based on the common law, the injured worker must show that the injury was foreseeable and that the common law standard of care was breached.

Overriding duties

At common law, an employer is under a duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of its employees in all the circumstances of the case so as not to expose them to an unnecessary risk.

This duty of care extends to the employee’s physical and mental health. For further guidance on occupational stress cases, see Practice Notes:

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
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Key definition:
Duty of care definition
What does Duty of care mean?

A duty of care refers to the circumstances and relationships giving rise to an obligation upon a defendant to take proper care to avoid causing some form of foreseeable harm to the claimant in all the circumstances of the case in question.

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