Employers' & vicarious liability
This topic covers an employer's personal non-delegable duties to employees and the separate doctrine of vicarious liability, by which one party is held strictly liable for another's tort. Both are heavily tested through workplace and abuse scenarios.
What "Employers' & vicarious liability" covers
- An employer owes a personal, non-delegable duty to provide competent staff, adequate equipment, a safe place of work, and a safe system of work (Wilsons & Clyde Coal).
- Vicarious liability requires (1) a relationship of employment or one akin to it, and (2) a tort sufficiently closely connected to that relationship.
- Stage one can extend beyond employees to relationships akin to employment, but not to genuinely independent contractors (Barclays Bank).
- The close-connection test asks whether the wrongful conduct was so connected with the employee's authorised acts that it is fair to impose liability (Mohamud, as clarified in Morrison).
- An employer is not liable where the employee was on a 'frolic of their own' outside the course of employment.
- The Catholic Child Welfare and Cox cases confirm the two-stage modern approach and its extension to non-employees in akin-to-employment relationships.
- Vicarious liability is strict — the employer's own fault need not be shown.
Key cases & statutes
The authorities and provisions most likely to matter for this subtopic:
How it's tested in SQE1
SQE1 uses single best answer questions: a short factual scenario, one precise question, and five options of which only one is the best answer on the law applied to the facts. For employers' & vicarious liability, expect to be asked what the correct legal position is, what a party may or must do, or which outcome follows — with more than one option looking arguable. Reading the facts carefully and eliminating the near-misses is the skill that earns the mark.
Where candidates lose marks
- Imposing vicarious liability for the acts of a genuinely independent contractor.
- Applying the close-connection test too broadly after Morrison narrowed Mohamud.
- Confusing the employer's personal non-delegable duty with vicarious liability for another's tort.
Learn this subtopic in the course
A video lesson, notes and exam-style practice on employers' & vicarious liability.
FAQ
Is employers' & vicarious liability tested on SQE1?
Yes — employers' & vicarious liability is part of the SQE1 Tort syllabus (FLK1) and can appear in single best answer questions.
How is employers' & vicarious liability examined in SQE1?
SQE1 tests it by application: you're given a realistic scenario and choose the single best answer from five options. The focus is on using the law correctly, not reciting it — knowing the leading authorities (Wilsons & Clyde Coal v English [1938], Lister v Hesley Hall [2001]) helps.