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Should an employer be legally responsible for accidents on the way to work due to snow and ice?
Results so far:
| Yes | 45% | 58 votes | Total: 130 votes | |
| No | 55% | 72 votes |
Yes
by Tracy Lynn Smith
Created on: January 15, 2011 Last Updated: January 16, 2011
Employers should be legally responsible for accidents because of snow and ice when they force employees to travel to work. Some companies have rules that state snow and ice is not an excuse to miss work. Some company policies state that workers have to make a reasonable attempt to get to work. If the worker get hurt because their employers forced them to dive on roads that the road crews and police feel is unsafe then the employer should be responsible.
Heavy snow falls over night and accumulates about sixteen inches of snow in Tennessee. For Tennessee residents this is very unusual. Road crews are unprepared to handle this much snow and the salt supply is low. Local law enforcements inform residents through the local TV and radio stations not to drive if they don’t have to.
An employee calls into work, not sure if they could make it in to work. Their boss tells them they will be written up or fired because snow and ice is not an excuse to miss work. Then the employee does their best to get into work but on their way they slid off the road and into a ditch.
The employee ends up with a broken arm and a damaged car. Had their employer accepted the employee's call in to miss work, the worker would have been safe at home. In this case the employer should be legally responsible for the accidents because it was the employers fault that the worker was forced to drive. If the same accident happened after an employer told employees to only come to work when it was safe, then it should then be the workers fault for driving during bad weather.
Sadly, the world doesn’t stop because of bad weather. However, unless a job is vital like doctors, nurses, firemen, or policemen, work needs to come to a stop until it is safe to continue. Money is not worth anything if a person ends up dead. Laws should be in place to help protect workers from risking their lives just to keep their job.
Proving who is responsible for the driver being on the road may be difficult because some people lie. Company policy should have rules to include employee safety to and from work. When the employer’s policies force workers to be at work regardless of weather conditions, the employer should be fully responsible for accidents on the way to work due to snow and ice.
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No
by Just A. Soul
Created on: January 18, 2011
Absolutely not. The employee is free to choose not only where she works but also where she lives. When these decisions were made, proximity to work and transportation to work should have been important variables in the equation. Variables which the employee is responsible for controlling, not the employer. No one is forced to drive to work. People drive to work because they choose to and having made that choice they must bear responsibility for the risks inherent in operating a motor vehicle. Yes, even in poor conditions the driver is still responsible for their own safety while behind the wheel.
The argument in favor of the employer being legally responsible for employee car accidents on the way to work is predicated solely on the misconception that an individual must drive a car to arrive at work. This is obviously not true. However, even if it were true placing liability on the horribly overbearing employer who simply expects you to show up at work and do your job has a multitude of flaws.
In a case such as this how is the legal system supposed to distinguish between an unsafe hazzard forced upon the employee by the obligation of work and all other causes that lead to motor vehicle accidents?
When the employee purchased their vehicle did they buy a rear wheel drive sports car that is nearly impossible to drive in the snow or did they buy a Jeep? Were the tires new or old? Did the employee properly clear the car of snow and ice or was their vision impaired by their own laziness? At the time of the accident was the radio too loud to hear approaching sirens or other warnings? Was the employee on the phone or applying make-up? How fast was the employee driving when the car lost control? Was the employee on any medication? Did the employee get enough sleep the night before? A lawyer is going to ask all of these questions and many, many more. In virtually every case it will be found that the employer is in fact not directly responsible and some other cause led to the accident. In court it will quickly become clear that this entire idea will be a tremendous waste of society's resources.
If the employee must drive to work and they cannot drive under the conditions on any given day, then the employee should stay home. Most companies are run by reasonable human beings and they do not want people to unnecessarily risk their lives to report to work.
Ultimately, people must continue to accept personal responsibility for the risks inherent in life. Trying to place blame on economic organizations for their own mistakes, failures and lack of ability is lunacy.
Should an employer be legally responsible for accidents on the way to work due to rain? How about low lying fog?
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