Accident whilst travelling to work

connundrum

Just a quick question - is the employer liable for anything when an employee is injured whilst travelling to work?

I can't find anything relating to it, but have a niggling feeling that there is something out there which states the employer is liable for something i.e. some medical expenses, half pay etc.

Any help welcome.

brightspark

Liability implies that there was a "duty of care".

Was the employer negligent?

i.e. were you asked to come back into work after only a few hours rest or something similar whereby the employer could reasonably foresee that the accident would happen?

AFAIK while the HSA treat accidents that occur traveling to and from work as work related accidents you would probably have to prove in a court of law that the employer was responsible in some manner.

Or were you traveling to a work site away from the employer's main place of business?

I suggest you seek legal advice to be sure (but don't get your hopes up)

dresden8

Not sure about the employer but you may be able to claim off social welfare

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Publications/SW30/Pages/1WhatisInjuryBenefit.aspx

An accident while on an unbroken journey to or from work is regarded as an accident at work.

Shelflife

Sorry i cant see how the employer can be responsible for accidents that occur while the employee is going to work.

The employee hasnt even clocked in yet.

whats next i fell out of bed getting up for work so ill sue the employer??

whats the world coming to?

what2do

Shelflife wrote: »

Sorry i cant see how the employer can be responsible for accidents that occur while the employee is going to work.

The employee hasnt even clocked in yet.

whats next i fell out of bed getting up for work so ill sue the employer??

whats the world coming to?

+1 on this.... its no wonder companys is Ire are failing if having to deal with issues like this! I went out last night, was tired with a bit of a headache this morn - should work have provided me with nurofen cos I'd to be there as opposed to home in bed where I wanted to be!

Blitzkrieger

AFAIK it depends on how many hours you're working. If you exceed a certain amount of hours in a week, your employer is liable for any accident you have, regardless of where it occurs. There's other rules governing shorter spaces of time too. I think it's if you exceed 40 hours in three days you have to have 48 hours off or your employer is liable. I should prolly look up the exact legilslation....

Basically, if you're only working 9-5, no dice.

jhegarty

You are talking about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Time_Directive

gerrycollins

connundrum wrote: »

Just a quick question - is the employer liable for anything when an employee is injured whilst travelling to work?

I can't find anything relating to it, but have a niggling feeling that there is something out there which states the employer is liable for something i.e. some medical expenses, half pay etc.

Any help welcome.

get real, smell the coffee and take your head out. unless you were on company time no nothing nada zero zilch nothing.

connundrum

I'm glad that some of you jumped to the conclusion that it was me who was injured.

I was checking for a guy who works security in the business park I work in.

Anywhoo, thanks for the decent answers. Like I said, it was something I'd heard about ages ago and just wanted to double check on.

mikemac

Some harsh replies here guys

The European Working Time Directive is relevant and it's pretty certain there are people working illegally long hours and then driving home. Tiredness is a major factor in accidents.

I don't know what would happen if an employee in that situation crashed. And I'd agree that most cases don't affect an employer at all

But the employer isn't off scot-free in 100% of cases for sure
To give an example I've read in this forum that Aldi & Lidl managers are working 90 hour weeks and Lidl area managers have to drive to weekly meetings in Cork. Suppose you work 90 hours and one morning you have to drive 2,3,4 hours to a meeting. Employer is blameless?

gerrycollins

suppose the whole story was not explained and you are right micmclo there have been instances where the employer was to blame but they could only be charged with not complying with the EWTD such as minimum rest periods etc.

As for aldi/lidl managers they sign up to it, they know it before they do it so sorry its their own problem,not their fault their problem, everyone know those managers put in savage hours and get get decent perks.

givyjoe81

gerrycollins wrote: »

suppose the whole story was not explained and you are right micmclo there have been instances where the employer was to blame but they could only be charged with not complying with the EWTD such as minimum rest periods etc.

As for aldi/lidl managers they sign up to it, they know it before they do it so sorry its their own problem,not their fault their problem, everyone know those managers put in savage hours and get get decent perks.

If an Aldi/Lidl manager crashed on their way to cork on way to one of these meetings, company AFAIK could well be liable for third party damages as the employee is most definitely on company time, and is so the second he got into his car to travel to such a meeting. Aside from the fact it is a company car being crashed, it would be crashed while on company busienss. It may also be the same for the security guy, if he was on his way to site. Now as the injury to the driver himself, if it was his simple carelessness and no other factors came into play, then tough titties to him. But lets say he's at the end of a 90 hour week when asked to travel by company car to a meetin in the sticks, said manager says "no im wrecked and no condition to drive" but is told get down here or else! Well should he crash and suffer injury not much of a leap to suggest that he would be entitled to some damages.

As for the ridiculous nasty comments, give it a rest for ffs, nothing constuctive to say, then dont bother. This is quite an interesting connundrum and it is actually a scenario which is taught on law courses, ie the post grad which i took. I would stress though that im no legal eagle and my knowledge at this stage is fading, so best to check on legal forum.

Shelflife

well my understanding of the ops question was if joe soap on the way to work in his own car has an accident , is the employer liable?

the answer is NO !

you can make different cases for the later senarios, but driving a company car to a meeting you would be covered by the insurance.

jetsonx

connundrum wrote: »

Just a quick question - is the employer liable for anything when an employee is injured whilst travelling to work?

I can't find anything relating to it, but have a niggling feeling that there is something out there which states the employer is liable for something i.e. some medical expenses, half pay etc.

Any help welcome.

People with this mentality make me sick.

Ever wonder why products and services in Ireland are so expensive ? One of the reasons is because businesses have to insure themselves very well against people like the OP that scurry about looking for easy money.

whats the world coming to?

I ask myself the same question Shelflife.

mikemac

jetsonx wrote: »

people like the OP that scurry about looking for easy money.

Did you even read the thread?
The OP clearly stated it wasn't them that was involved.

What's with all the harsh replies here?
Looks like this forum is getting worse....imo of course

Btw, I've seen Primetime slammed on boards countless times but next Tuesday is a program on lorry drivers and other employees working illegal hours. Kinda relevent if you're interested.
Couldn't find a link on the RTE website

jetsonx

The OP is trying to help someone weasal their way out of their responsibility and is really doing them an injustice.

Sure, we'd all love to scapegoat our boss if we have an accident on the way
to work...it's the easy way out. Conundrum would be better off telling their security buddy to shut up and forget the accident because next time, the security firm carries out it's "review of human resources" - guess who they are going let slip away into the night? yes - that "liability" of an employee who tried to file a law suit against them.

gerrycollins

ill put one last comment on this.

a friend of a friend was driving home one night from the overnight shift. he worked as a casulty nurse, tough job probably a 12 hr shift. my mother did them loads of time also scares the living daylights out of me now thinkin back.

he was so tired he fell asleep going down a hill and smashed straight into a esb pole. died instantly

who was responsible? the esb for the pole at the bottom of the hill? the council for having a hill?the hse for working him a 12hr shift?the coffee vendor for not having strong enough coffee?

no one was only the poor fella himself.

wmpdd3

A few years back two of my colleagues were traveling to a meeting when they had an car accident. The passenger was injured tried to claim from her employer as the journey would be covered by millage.
The claim failed and she had to claim from her colleagues insurance.
This trip would have been in addition to a 40hr working week, as was the norm.

Colz_Pow

Hi, i recently crashed on a work trip in co.mayo.... there was 2 of us from the same company from wexford.....
The accident was not my fault, the other party and guards admitted that...
I was wondering would i be entitled to and expenses occured, e.g taxi's, food from the loss of my vehicle??
Can someone please help me? My boss is saying i am entitled to nothing, i have spent a lot of money on taxi's, phone calls, food etc and besides this my car is totally written off....
Also who sjould pay our medical bills, should this be up to our company aswell? Please help...

Thank you.....

mathepac

@Colz_Pow sorry to hear of your accident.

All of your claims are against the insurance of the person who caused the accident. Even if the vehicle was supplied and insured by your employer all your claims are against the other driver's insurance.

You need legal advice - contact a solicitor. Sorry.

BrokenArrows

I would only think they would be liable if your work required you to travel.

If your due to be in the office at 9 but you got in an accident when driving to work, i would say no.

..but if you were driving to a 3rd parties place on behalf of your company then i think they would be liable.

mathepac

BrokenArrows wrote: »

... if you were driving to a 3rd parties place on behalf of your company then i think they would be liable.

On what basis?

Companies that pay mileage allowances generally ask for a signed indemnity from their employees in case of accidents, asking the employee to confirm their vehicles are adequately insured. Even companies that throw in the odd 50 quid for petrol on an informal basis won't accept liability for an accident; their own insurance company would run a mile if they did.

A company failing to ask for a signed indemnity and proof of insurance from an employee is being run by careless, irresponsible idiots, but that doesn't translate into employer liability in the event of a road traffic accident.

An employee who uses their private vehicle on company business and only asks about liability and responsibility for costs and injuries after an accident has happened is careless and irresponsible, but again this does not translate into making their employer liable for the losses suffered IMHO. It may however mean that their own insurance company will not honour the comprehensive portion of their policy if they were involved in an activity not declared on their proposal form e.g. business use or business travel.