In brief: where there is a labour hire arrangement, the Court
is less willing to impose an automatic reduction to damages payable
by the host employer
In 2018, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that four
percent of Australian employees were registered with a labour hire
firm or employment agency. With the casualisation of the Australian
workforce over the past year, it can be expected that the number of
labour hire employees will continue to increase. Host employers and
their insurers need to be aware of their potential liability risk
should a labour hire worker be injured whilst on assignment.
Shifting liability from employer to host employer
Traditionally, an employer will automatically bear a proportion
of liability by virtue of its arduous non-delegable duty of care to
its employee. However, in recent times the Courts have been willing
to find that a host employer can be 100% liable for a labour hire
worker's injury. Due to the disparity in damages
