Employer’s Property Liability for Compensation of Damages Caused to a Victim of an Occupational Accident

In order for the employer’s property liability to arise for compensating the non-pecuniary damages caused to a worker or employee injured in an occupational accident, the lawyer must establish through full and main proof in the judicial process pursuant to the rules of Article 154, paragraph 1 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) the following material prerequisites:

1. occupational accident;

2. damage leading to adverse consequences – pain and suffering; and

3. causal connection between the accident and the damages caused, i.e. the pain and suffering caused must be a regular, natural consequence of the accident that occurred during and in connection with or on the occasion of the performed work, as well as for any work performed in the interest of the enterprise.

The employer’s property liability for compensation arises regardless of whether he himself, his body, or another worker or employee is at fault for the injury – an argument from the provision of Article 200, paragraph 2 of the Labour Code (LC). In this sense, the employer’s liability under Article 200, paragraph 1 of the LC is objective, therefore even in the case of culpable behaviour by the injured person – in negligence – the employer must compensate him. The employer’s property liability would only be excluded in the case of intentional self-injury, but not in the case of reckless conduct (so-called conscious negligence). Even in the event of the injured person contributing to the harmful result through this form of guilt (in Article 201, paragraph 2 LC, the term “gross negligence” is used), the employer’s liability may only be reduced.

Since compensation for non-pecuniary damages is substitutive, not compensatory, the legislator has provided in Article 52 of the Obligations and Contracts Act (OCA) the legal possibility for the court, in fairness, to determine the substitutive monetary performance that the employer owes the employee as compensation for the pain and suffering that are a regular consequence of the injuries sustained in an occupational accident. When determining the amount of the monetary compensation, the court must assess the nature and intensity of the victim’s negative experiences, as well as the age of the injured person, guided by the social criterion of fairness at the moment of the occurrence of the right to compensation. According to Interpretative Decree No. 4/1968, the concept of “fairness” within the meaning of Article 52 OCA is not an abstract concept. It is related to the assessment of a number of specific objectively existing circumstances that must be taken into account by the court when determining the amount of compensation.

This article does not constitute a legal opinion or legal advice related to a specific situation or person. For legal assistance in a similar case, a legal consultation should be held with a lawyer practising in labour and tort law.