Can You Be Fired For A Work-Related Accident?

By Jo Caine. Last Updated 27th June 2023. If you’ve suffered an accident at work and you’ve been injured, you’ll likely have a lot to consider. You’ll probably be worried about your injury, your recovery and how this might affect you in the long term. Perhaps you’re considering a personal injury claim to lessen the financial impact that your injuries have had on you. If so, you may be asking, “can I be sacked for claiming against an employer?”

Can I be sacked for claiming against an employer guide

In this guide, we aim to explain your rights when you have had an accident at work. We want to help you understand what legal protections you have from being sacked. Also, we will look at what your rights are regarding making an accident at work claim.

We can offer you free legal advice through our team of trained, experienced, and friendly advisors. They can also offer you a free consultation on making a claim, if they can see you have a valid claim they can offer to connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel. Any claim that they take on will be under No Win No Fee terms.

To speak with one of our advisors, call 0161 696 9685, or send a message in our live chat. You can also ask us to call you by putting in your contact details and a brief description of the circumstances of your situation in our callback form.

Select A Section

A Guide On Can I Be Sacked For Claiming Against My Employer?
Calculate Compensation For Work-Related Accidents
Compensation In Addition To Injury Settlements
What Is A Work-Related Accident?
Who Has Workplace Rights?
What Is Your Employers Duty Of Care?
How Could Making A Claim Affect Relations With Your Employer?
Could You Be Sacked For Claiming Against An Employer?
What Happens When You Return To Work After An Accident
No Win No Fee Claims Against Your Employer
Talk To Our Team
More Information On Claiming Against An Employer
Can You Be Fired For A Work-Related Accident?

A Guide On Can I Be Sacked For Claiming Against My Employer?

In order to understand your rights to make a compensation claim, you also need to understand your rights as an employee. This will include what your employer is and isn’t allowed to do if you’re injured at work.

In this guide, we’ve included essential information about your rights as an employee when making a compensation claim for a workplace accident. We will answer questions like “What are my rights if I have an accident at work?” and “Can you be fired for a work-related injury?”. In addition, we will discuss some of the things you need to know about the process of making a compensation claim, including how you can prove employer negligence.

This guide will also explain things like what types of compensation you could be entitled to and how it is calculated. You may be worried about how you will be able to afford legal representation in an accident at work claim; if so, our section on No Win, No Fee agreements will be of interest to you.

If there is anything that you need to know or wish to discuss further before taking any more action, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.

Calculate Compensation For Work-Related Accidents

When you are claiming compensation, the amount of compensation you are seeking will be calculated based on the severity of your injuries. It will take into consideration the pain and suffering you’ve endured and how long you’re likely to be affected. The head of your claim that compensates you for the injuries themselves is known as general damages.

As general damages are based on the impact of your injuries, you’ll need to attend a medical appointment arranged by your solicitor. Here, an independent expert will examine your injuries and look at how they’ve affected you. They’ll detail their findings and prognosis in a medical report, which will then be sent on to your solicitor.

Your solicitor will then use this report alongside the Judicial College Guidelines JCG to value the claim. These are guidelines to compensation brackets for different injuries of varying severities.

We won’t be able to give you an assessment of how much compensation you could be entitled to until you have spoken about your situation with our team of advisors. You may be tempted to use an online compensation calculator. However, you will get a much more accurate claim valuation by speaking to a member of our team.

However, we can give you some insight into some of the compensation brackets outlined in the table below courtesy of the JCG.

Injury Suffered	Severity	Estimated Compensation	Comments
Facial Disfigurement	Very Severe Scarring	£29,780 to £97,330	The claimant is younger (teens to early 30s) and has had a serious psychological reaction to the scarring.
Facial Disfigurement	Less Severe Scarring	£17,960 to £48,420	Substantial and significant scarring as well as psychological reaction.
Facial Disfigurement	Significant Scarring	£9,110 to £30,090	The worst effects may be addressed through plastic surgery.
Neck Injury	Moderate (i)	£23,460 to £36,120	Dislocations and fractures
Neck Injury	Moderate (ii)	£13,740 to £24,990	Injuries consistent with a soft tissue or wrenching-type injury and disc lesion.
Neck Injury	Moderate (iii)	£7,890 to £13,740	Injuries which may have accelerated and/or exacerbated a pre-existing condition.
Shoulder Injury	Serious	£12,770 to £19,200	A dislocated shoulder with damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus causing neck and shoulder pain.
Ankle Injury	Modest	Up to £13,740	Less serious, undisplaced minor fractures, which may have resulted in complete recovery, or with minor ongoing symptoms.
Toe Injury	Moderate	Up to £9,600	Relatively straightforward conditions with only minor ongoing symptoms or complete recovery.
Leg Injury	Less Serious (iii)	Up to £11,840	Soft tissue injuries or simple tibia or fibula fractures.

Compensation In Addition To Injury Settlements

The effects of being hurt in a workplace accident can extend well beyond just the injury itself. Some of the financial losses you experience might be ones you wouldn’t have anticipated, leaving you out of pocket.

For example, an injury might lead to you needing time off work which could have an impact on your earnings. Certain injuries may leave you unable to drive, forcing you to pay public transport fees or taxi costs to get to and from medical appointments. In some cases, you may require medication or treatment that isn’t available for free on the NHS, forcing you to pay out of pocket.

However, you could be compensated for these financial losses. The head of your claim that compensates you for financial losses is known as special damages.

In order for the special damages head of your claim to cover everything, you should keep all of the paperwork associated with these costs. This way, you can produce them as proof when it comes time to make your claim. You would not be able to include losses that you cannot provide supporting evidence for.

If you would like information about what you could be entitled to claim in special damages, please call our advisor team.

What Is A Work-Related Accident?

In order to claim for an accident that occured in the workplace, you must have sustained injuries. You also need to be able to show that the accident was not your fault but rather due to the negligence of your employer or a colleague.

Examples of workplace accidents could include:

Injuries caused by hazardous materials, such as corrosive substances or toxic fumes
An accident caused by machinery or equipment
Injury caused to an employee due to a lack of proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Slips, trips and falls caused by poor housekeeping
Injuries caused by heavy lifting or manual handling

When could you claim against an employer?

You could make a workplace injury claim if your accident occurred because the employer did not fulfil the duty of care they had towards you. Injuries that occur as a result of your own negligence would not be considered grounds for a claim.

Some of the instances where you could make a personal injury claim could include:

Suffering an accident caused by being untrained for the task you are expected to perform
Being injured because you were supplied with defective machinery or equipment
A slip, trip or fall caused by a hazard that should have been identified and removed in a risk assessment.
Developing a long term occupational illness, such as asbestosis or Vibration White Finger, due to a lack of protection from health hazards related to your role.

If you would like free legal advice on whether or not your workplace accident qualifies for a workplace injury claim, you can call our advice team. They’ll be happy to have a conversation with them about what happened and give you free legal advice.

Who Has Workplace Rights?

You have a right to protection from your employer against preventable injury or illness in the workplace. This means that if you suffer an accident that could have been prevented by your employer but was not, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim.

The duty of care that your employer has to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety in work is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. More specific pieces of legislation, besides the HASAWA, include;

These are pieces of legislation that specify particular aspects of safety when dealing with certain roles and jobs, but all aspects of workplace health and safety fall under the umbrella of the principle set out in the HASAWA. You can find more details on employers’ obligations in the section below.

What Is Your Employers Duty Of Care?

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, all employers are responsible for the health and safety of their employees. This gives your employer a duty of care over you and your work colleagues.

An employer’s duty of care involves taking all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees whilst work. If you’ve been injured in an accident that came about because your employer breached this duty of care, then you may have grounds to make a claim.

Your employer may implement the following to promote workplace safety:

Providing correct and up-to-date right training for their roles
Making sure all equipment, machinery and vehicles are regularly serviced and well-maintained
Providing all employees with the appropriate PPE for their role.
Labelling and containing all hazardous substances correctly
Ensuring that the workplace is well lit, well ventilated and free from tripping hazards.

You may not be sure whether the circumstances that led to your accident constituted a breach of duty of care on the part of your employer. If so, get in touch with our team today; we’ll be happy to provide more information.

How Could Making A Claim Affect Relations With Your Employer?

Some employers may attempt to make an employee’s life difficult when they’re considering making an accident at work claim or have started the process. They could be subject to behaviour designed to make their time at work as difficult as possible. This could be a deliberate attempt to pressure the employee to quit. If this was the case you could start a separate claim for constructive dismissal and bring your employer to an employment tribunal.

This could include measures designed to make it impractical to work there, such as making changes to hours, shift patterns and pay. This kind of discrimination could also be carried out with the intent of pressuring an employee into withdrawing their claim.

This is unlawful, and if you have been mistreated by your employer to the point where you have felt the need to leave your job, you could then be entitled to make a compensation claim on the grounds of constructive dismissal. This would be in addition to your original claim for a workplace injury.

Could You Be Sacked For Claiming Against An Employer?

You may be wondering, “Can I be dismissed for claiming after an accident at work?”. The answer to this question is a resounding “no”.

You can’t be sacked after having an accident at work if it was not your fault. You also cannot be sacked for making a compensation claim against your employer as long as the claim is honest.

Your rights are legally protected as a worker. If you were sacked for making an accident at work claim this would be considered unfair dismissal and again your employer could face a tribunal. Furthermore, all employers are required by law to have Employers’ Liability Insurance according to the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. As long as this is in place, your claim won’t affect the company’s finances directly.

What Is Constructive Dismissal?

Constructive dismissal is when an employer deliberately and proactively enforces a working environment that an employee feels that they can no longer work in. This might happen in cases where an employee is making a claim, and the employer wishes to be rid of them. This is different from unfair dismissal.

Methods that could constitute constructive dismissal might include:

Reducing an employees hours or shifts or halting them entirely if the employee is on a zero-hour contract
Changing the times of employees shifts in order to force them to leave. This might include giving them only night shifts or shifts that are unsuitable to their circumstances.
Subjecting the employee to bullying or harassment.

You could be entitled to make a claim if your employer has sacked you for claiming compensation following a workplace accident. This type of claim is different to a personal injury claim. These claims are heard in front of a tribunal and are part of employment law.

What Happens When You Return To Work After An Accident

When you return to work after an accident, you would hope to be able to carry on as normal. But in cases where the employee has attempted to make a compensation claim against the employer, there is the possibility that the employer may be hostile.

We have addressed what some of these tactics may be in the above section on constructive dismissal. Other actions taken against an employee that has pursued compensation could include:

Demotions
A reduction in pay
Reductions in holidays or sick leave
Unfair disciplinary measures
Unwarranted negative performance reviews
Reassigning an employee to a less favourable position

An employer should not discriminate or mistreat an employee for pursuing compensation that they were entitled to. If you believe that you have been subject to unfair or harassing behaviour following a personal injury claim, contact us. We may be able to help.

No Win No Fee Claims Against Your Employer

If you meet the eligibility criteria for making an accident at work claim, you may want to get assistance from a solicitor. They could help gather evidence and negotiate an appropriate compensation payout.

The solicitors on our panel can take on claims under a type of No Win No Fee arrangement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When working with a solicitor under a CFA, you typically won’t them anything upfront or during the process of your claim for their services. Furthermore, you won’t pay them for their work if the claim fails.

If your solicitor succeeds with your case, they will take a success fee from you. This fee is a small percentage that is deducted from your compensation. There is a legal cap for how much this success fee can be.

If you have been injured in a work-related accident, and would like to see if you could be eligible to work with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel, you can contact our advisors today. They can also help answer questions such as ‘Can I still make a personal injury claim if I was dismissed after an accident at work?’

Talk To Our Team

We hope that this guide has provided you with an answer to the question, “can I be sacked for claiming against an employer?”. If you have any further questions about making a claim, then you can get in touch with us by:

Calling 0161 696 9685
Filling out our callback form
Using the live chat feature at the bottom right of this page

More Information On Claiming Against An Employer

Below, you can find links to lots more guides on accidents at work:

Claiming Against My Employer – FAQs

How many work injury cases are registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit?

In 2019/2020, the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) had 79,027 work injury cases registered to them. The CRU recovers social security benefits in cases where an injured person has received compensation.

What should employees do if an employee is injured on the job?

If you are injured on the job, then the first thing you should do is to seek medical attention. You should record your accident in the workplace accident book. Collect evidence if you can, and take pictures of the scene of the accident.

Can I be sacked after an injury at work?

No, you are protected from being sacked for an injury at work if it is not your fault. You are also protected from being mistreated or discriminated against at work if you have brought or are thinking of bringing an accident claim against an employer.

Thank you for reading our guide, looking at the question “can I be sacked for claiming against an employer?”.

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