As an employer, your title carries lots of responsibilities. The employees that work for you owe you a duty to act within the instructions of their lawfully assigned duties. Often, you or a supervisor you have employed is in charge of giving the instructions of the various tasks to be executed by the employees. Even the supervisor carries the title of an employee, and whatever instructions they give are within their job description. Therefore, if an employee carries out tasks or offers services that end up harming a third party, as the employee, you will be held liable for your employees’ actions under employer’s liability, also commonly known as vicarious liability.
If you are an employer, it is essential that you understand the employer’s liability.; this can help you put in place measures to safeguard your business from a lawsuit’s repercussions. Book a consultation with a Las Vegas business attorney from the law office of Dobberstein Law Group for guidance on how to protect your business.
As mentioned, when an employee is undertaking their lawfully assigned duties, they do so for the employer’s benefit. Therefore, when those acts cause harm, the law seeks to compensate the aggrieved party by holding the employer liable. There are instances whereby employees act outside their job descriptions, and their acts end up wrongfully burdened on the employer. With the help of Las Vegas Business Lawyers, you can get guidance on distinguishing the acts of an employee that fall outside their job description hence protecting your business from unnecessary vicarious liability claims.
What accidents qualify as job related accidents?
Employer’s liability is governed by the principle of vicarious liability and the doctrine of respondent superior. For an employer to be held liable for the employee’s actions, the actions must be within the course of employment. Meaning the tasks being performed by the employee at the time of the accident must have been done under the express instructions of the employer. Also, actions within the course of employment can be those actions done to facilitate the assigned task. To understand what accidents, qualify as job-related, contact competent Business Attorneys in Las Vegas NV from Dobberstein Law Group.
As an employer, you need to understand that not every accident an employee causes you will be vicariously liable for; because the accidents caused by employees are classified as detour and frolic. Suppose you are sued for being vicariously liable for the accident caused by your employee, liability on your end is not apparent, you should get in touch with a Las Vegas Business Litigation Attorney who has experience with the Las Vegas Business Law for an analysis of your case.
Detour – Such accidents happen when the employee is acting within the course of employment but slightly deviates from the lawful duties to partake in acts whose end goal is to benefit the business.
Frolic– Where an employee decides to deviate from their lawfully allocated duties and engage in personal escapades. In such a scenario, even if the employee uses the business property, e.g., a car to ferry friends to a road trip, any accident arising from such a road trip shall not be blamed on you as an employer.
Negligent Liability
As an employer, your mandate is to perform a background check on a prospective employee before hiring them. An employee with a sexual offender record is a threat to society and might harm the customers you put at their disposal. If such an employee goes ahead and commits another sex crime, you will be held liable for negligent hiring.
Harassment
Employers have a mandate under federal law to provide a safe working environment for all their employees. Where the environment turns hostile due to harassment of an employee by other employees because of their race, sex, religion, etc., such an employee can sue your business for discrimination.
Protect your business against employer liability either due to job-related accidents, negligent hiring, or harassment by contacting a Nevada business law attorney for advice creation of a good business structure.