In this guide, we examine part time worker accident claims. If you sustained an injury in the workplace as a part time employee, you may wonder if you have the same rights to claim compensation as a full time worker. We take a look at health and safety law and examine the eligibility criteria for making a claim for personal injury compensation.
To help illustrate when a compensation claim could be valid, we examine a few situations where a part-time worker could have good grounds to make a workplace accident claim. We’ll also explain how compensation could be awarded in a successful claim.
If you would like to claim compensation and satisfy the eligibility requirements, you may like to have legal representation during the personal injury claims process. This guide concludes with a look at how you can have the support of a personal injury solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis.
Direct any questions you have about part-time worker injury claims to a member of our advisory team. To talk to an advisor:
- Call 020 8050 2736
- Fill in our claim online form and an advisor will contact you.
- Ask about personal injury compensation claims in our live chat.
Select A Section
- What Are Part Time Worker Accident Claims?
- When Can A Part Time Worker Injury Lead To A Claim?
- How Much Compensation For A Part Time Worker Injury Claim?
- What Evidence Can Help In A Part Time Worker Accident Claim?
- Why Claim For A Part-Time Worker Injury On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About Accident At Work Claims
What Are Part Time Worker Accident Claims?
While at work, all employees, including employees on a part-time contract, are owed a duty of care by their employer. This means that their employer needs to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure their health, safety and welfare while at work. The legal duty is set by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA).
If you sustain injuries while at work because your employer breached health and safety regulations, you could claim compensation just as a full-time worker could. You will need to prove that you meet the eligibility criteria for worker accident claims. This means that you need to show:
- You were owed a duty of care by your employer.
- There was a breach of this duty.
- You sustained injuries because of this breach.
What Are Common Injuries For Workers?
A part-time employee could suffer the same types of injuries as a full-time worker, including:
- Brain damage.
- Back injury.
- Neck injury.
- Finger amputations.
- Broken bones.
- Leg injury.
- Arm injury.
- Serious work injury.
- Minor injury.
Most claims for workplace accidents are subject to personal injury claims time limits. To find out if you are still within time to make an accident at work claim, call our advisors now.
When Can A Part Time Worker Injury Lead To A Claim?
There are various ways an employee could suffer an injury. These include:
- Slips, trips and falls. For example, there might be trailing wires and your employer may not have taken steps, such as putting a cover on them to reduce the hazard, you could trip and fall, and sustain a wrist injury. Your employer should have policies in place to maintain housekeeping to help uphold their duty of care.
- Falls from a height. Your employer failed to provide you with the necessary personal protective equipment to do your job safely, such as a harness. You slip while working on a roof, and due to the lack of a safety harness, you fall to the floor and suffer a severe brain injury.
- Inadequate training. You should have sufficient training to carry out any tasks you are asked to do. For example, you could suffer a back injury because you are not trained in manual handling activities and pick up an object in the incorrect manner.
Can Part-Time Workers Be Fired After An Accident At Work?
If you decide to bring a compensation claim against your employer for injuries you experienced as a part-time employee, you may wonder if you can be fired for doing so. You cannot be fired for launching a claim against your employer, but if you are, you could claim unfair dismissal.
If you have any questions about part time worker accident claims, speak to an advisor from our team. One of our advisors can discuss the incident that resulted in your injuries and help assess whether you have a valid claim.
How Much Compensation For A Part Time Worker Injury Claim?
If you successfully claim for injuries suffered while at work, your settlement could consist of two parts: general and special damages.
General damages are awarded in successful worker accident claims to compensate for the physical injuries and emotional damage caused by the incident. Those tasked with valuing claims may use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them. This document lists guideline figures for various types of injuries.
bb The table provides a few figures. In the first row, we show how compensation could be awarded for multiple serious work injuries and special damages (this is not part of the JCG). The rest of the table provides figures from the JCG 17th edition. As all successful claims are different, this table is only a guideline.
| Injury | Severity | Notes | Guideline Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Very Severe | Settlements may compensate for more than one severe injury and related expenses, including lost earnings and care costs. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Injury | Very Severe | Full-time nursing is needed to cope with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Back Injury | Severe (i) | These cases cause severe pain and disability along with incomplete paralysis, bladder and bowel impairments or difficulty with sexual functioning. | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Leg Injuries | Severe (i) | Although the claimant did not have their leg amputated, the injury is severe enough to be treated in a similar manner, such as extensive degloving with gross shortening. | £117,460 to £165,860 |
| Leg Injuries | Severe (iv) | Complicated or multiple fractures or crushing injuries to a single limb. | £33,880 to £47,840 |
| Neck Injury | Severe (ii) | Serious fractures result in disability, such as loss of movement in neck and functioning loss of one or more limbs. | £80,240 to £159,770 |
| Finger Injury | Amputation | The amputation of the index and middle and/or ring fingers has rendered the hand of very little use. | £75,550 to £110,750 |
| Arm Injury | Permanent and Substantial | A significant permanent disability has occurred due to serious fractures, either to one or both forearms. | £47,810 to £73,050 |
| Arm Injury | Less Severe | The claimant had significant disabilities, but has made (or is expected to make) a substantial recovery. | £23,430 to £47,810 |
| Pelvis and Hip Injuries | Moderate (i) | Although these injuries are significant and may require a hip replacement, they don't cause major permanent disability. | £32,450 to £47,810 |
Special damages may also be awarded to compensate for any out-of-pocket expenses due to your injury. As part of your workplace accident claim, you could be compensated for your:
- Lost wages and pension contributions.
- Care costs.
- Home help.
- Medical expenses.
You will need to prove your expenses as part of the claims process. For example, you could save and submit receipts, invoices and payslips.
If you have any questions about how your compensation could be awarded, or what expenses you could recover under special damages, speak to a member of our advisory team.
What Evidence Can Help In A Part Time Worker Accident Claim?
All personal injury claims, including part time worker accident claims, need to be supported with evidence. This needs to prove liability for your injuries.
Examples of evidence that could be useful for a workplace injury claim include:
- Witness contact information. If anyone saw what happened and you make a note of their contact details, they can provide a witness statement further into the personal injury claims process.
- Accident book. By law, your employer must keep an accident book if they have ten or more members of staff. If you sustain an injury at work, this should be filled in with your name, the time and date and other relevant details. You can submit a copy of this in support of your claim.
- Medical records. You can submit a request for a copy of your medical records if you received treatment for your injuries following the accident.
- Video footage of the accident. For example, you can request CCTV footage of yourself to submit as evidence in a part-time worker injury compensation claim.
- Relevant photographs. For example, you can take pictures of the item that resulted in the injury, or the injuries themselves.
Contact our advisors to discuss what evidence could be helpful for your accident at work claim for a part-time employee injury.
Why Claim For A Part-Time Worker Injury On A No Win No Fee Basis?
If you meet the eligibility criteria to make a personal injury claim for your part-time employee accident, you may like to have a solicitor support you through the claims process. A personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you with claiming compensation. Typically, our panel of solicitors provide their No Win No Fee services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When your solicitor works on a No Win No Fee basis, they:
- Don’t collect upfront fees for their services.
- Won’t ask for ongoing payments.
- Don’t charge for their services when a claim fails.
- Only take a small success fee from your award when a claim is successful. This amount is a legally capped percentage.
One of the advisors from our team could help if you have any further questions about accident at work claims. Additionally, you could be connected to one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel if you satisfy the eligibility criteria.
To talk about work injury compensation claims:
- Call 020 8050 2736
- Request a call back using our claim online form.
- Ask about claiming for injuries sustained at work in our live chat.
Learn More About Accident At Work Claims
Additional guides about claiming for workplace injuries:
- Guidance about broken equipment accidents at work claims.
- Details on claiming for slips, trips and falls in the workplace.
- Information about manual handling injury compensation claims.
External websites that could be useful:
- Advice for workers about their health and safety from the Health and Safety Executive.
- Guidance on claiming statutory sick pay (SSP) from the government, including information about the statutory sick pay rates and how to claim.
- Information about first aid from the NHS.
Please speak to an advisor about any further questions you have about part time worker accident claims.