Equal Opportunity
8. Employer's Liability
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 22 Jul 2015
- Employers can be liable for the conduct (behaviour) of people connected to their business including:
- employees;
- managers, supervisors, directors and partners;
- workplace participants (people who work on the same premises but have different employers);
- agents (someone acting on the company’s behalf);
- contract workers or people that are paid on commission; and
- members of organisations which grant occupational qualifications.
- This is known as ‘vicarious liability’.
- An employer will not be vicariously liable for actions of employees if they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent the discrimination from occurring for example:
- the employer has an internal system for dealing with discrimination complaints;
- employees are provided with advice on what to do if they are the victim of discrimination;
- the employer provides victims of discrimination with free counselling; and
- the employer trains the offending employee to ensure they understand what discrimination is and encourage them not to discriminate again.
- Individuals can still be liable for their own discriminatory behaviour.
- Both the individual and the employer can be found liable. It is not just one or the other.
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