Employer liability in case of personal injury | Legal aid

Questioner

Description of the problem: A person is at work and is offered a boot camp during his working hours as a thank you for working hard with his colleagues. During this boot camp, the person falls from a human pyramid. Result: concussion, severe neck pain and a few weeks in bed. In addition, he misses his vacation because of this and has no cancellation insurance. Two questions: - Can the employer be held liable for the damage Jan suffered? - Can Jan tell the company about missing his holiday?

Lawyer

How unfortunate for Jan. Hopefully he will recover soon. The employer can be held liable for the damage incurred. He can also recover his vacation from the company. The employer is liable for damage during working hours, unless there is intent or recklessness. The employer is usually insured for this. It is advisable that Jan seeks legal assistance to defend his interests. I can help him with this.

Lawyer

I hope Jan has a speedy and complete recovery. In such cases, the employer may be expected to take out a liability or accident insurance for the staff. If this is the case, then this insurance can be invoked. If the employer has not done this, then in principle the employer can be held liable. This applies to personal injury but also to material damage such as a booked holiday that cannot go ahead. In order to be able to give definitive advice, it is important to know all the details.

Lawyer

It will have to be taken into account whether the boot camp offered was carried out 'in the exercise of his duties'. Employer liability based on article 7:658 BW will be rejected because an accident during a game activity (the boot camp) organised by the employer is not a work activity. Participation cannot be regarded as work within the meaning of article 7:658 BW. The employee voluntarily participates in a recreational activity. It is not plausible that not participating would have had (employment law) consequences. This is not affected by the fact that the activity also served 'company objectives'. The organising company cannot be regarded as an assistant of the employer within the meaning of article 6:76 BW. The fact that the employer stated that the boot camp was 'absolutely safe' does not lead to 'liability as an employer'. On the other hand, the person in question could have skipped this part of the boot camp because it was not an employment law activity.