Last Updated 23rd January 2025. If you have been assaulted in the workplace, you could be owed compensation. Health and safety legislation imposes a duty of care on employers to keep you as safe as reasonably possible, and this duty extends to preventing assaults if they have the knowledge and ability to do so. If your employer fails to reasonably prevent you from being harmed by violence in the workplace, you make a compensation claim.
Firstly, we concentrate on how your employer could be responsible for you being assaulted whilst you are at work and how compensation for such an incident is calculated. Additionally, we look at how a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you claim compensation following an assault in the workplace.
If you were assaulted at work, contact us for free using the details below to see if you could claim compensation.
- Call 0800 408 7825 to speak to an advisor.
- Speak to a dedicated member of our team via our live chat.
- Send a message using our Contact Us form.
Browse Our Guide
- What Is A Workplace Assault?
- Can I Claim Assault At Work Compensation?
- How Do I Know If My Employer Is Liable For My Assault At Work?
- What Could I Do Following An Assault At Work?
- How Much Assault At Work Compensation Could I Receive?
- Can I Claim For Damages On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Resources About How To Claim Compensation
What Is A Workplace Assault?
According to the Health and Safety Executive (Britain’s regulatory body for workplace health and safety), work-related violence is defined as an incident in which someone is assaulted, threatened or abused in work-related circumstances. The definition goes on to state that this could include:
- Physical attacks and assaults.
- Verbal threats or verbal abuse. This could include threats or abuse made online or over the phone.
You may have been attacked at work, threatened or abused by a colleague, a member of the public (such as a customer), a patient in a medical setting, a service user or other persons. For violence to be considered work-related, it should be connected to your work. Workplace violence would not cover personal disputes between family members or violence between a customer and service user outside of work.
According to the HSE, job roles which are at an increased risk of violence include those where employees:
- Work alone.
- Withhold or provide a service.
- Work after normal working hours.
- Handle medication or valuables.
- Work with people who are under stress.
If you have suffered injuries from an assault at work, compensation may be owed to you. Contact our team to find out more about workplace assault claims.
Can I Claim Assault At Work Compensation?
You could be able to claim for psychological or physical injuries you have suffered if you have been assaulted at work. However, you would need to prove that your employer was considered to be vicariously liable for this incident and your injuries.
A vicariously liable party is someone who owed a duty of care at the time of the incident. Because they breached this duty of care, a harmful incident occurred that could have otherwise been avoided.
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer has a duty of care to take every practicable step to ensure your safety. They should take reasonable steps to prevent accidents and injuries, such as providing you with personal protective equipment (PPE), the correct training to perform your job role, and safe staffing levels. Your employer should also take steps to address and minimise the risk of workplace violence.
If your employer did not take reasonable steps to minimise or address the risk of violence in the workplace, they may have breached their duty of care. For example, if a customer has previously threatened or abused you and your employer does not take steps to ensure your safety by barring the customer from the premises, providing security or taking other steps, they may be considered negligent.
You could claim assault at work compensation when:
- An employer owed you a duty of care.
- Your employer breached this duty. For example, they may have failed to address threatening behaviour between staff members.
- You were injured because of this breach of duty.
Consult our advisors today to learn more about your rights after an accident at work. They could also assess whether you have a valid claim.
How Do I Know If My Employer Is Liable For My Assault At Work?
You may be able to claim compensation after an assault if your employer fails to keep you safe in the workplace. Some examples could potentially include:
- Despite informing your employer that a colleague keeps threatening you, they take no measures to protect your safety and assign you to work together. This later leads to said colleague assaulting you, and you suffer a fractured jaw and facial scarring.
- You work as a security guard, and your employer assigns you to work alone, despite knowing the role requires a minimum of two guards for safety reasons. This leads to you being assaulted due to the lack of support from colleagues.
- You work in a bar and informed your employer of an aggressive customer who had been making violent threats. They failed to address this issue or ban the customer, leading to you being assaulted and suffering a broken hand.
What Could I Do Following An Assault At Work?
To start an assault at work compensation claim against your employer, you need to provide evidence that you were attacked in the workplace and why your employer is liable for your injuries.
You need to prove that your employer failed to take reasonable care of your safety and that they were responsible for your injuries. If you have been harmed, you could request a copy of your medical records for evidence in your claim.
Additional evidence you could gather could include:
- Reports made to your employer.
- Police crime reports and crime numbers.
- CCTV footage of the assault taking place.
- Photographs of any visible injuries suffered, such as bruising, swelling and scarring.
- The contact information of anyone who witnessed your assault and could provide a statement.
To learn more about how a solicitor from our panel could help you make an accident at work claim following a workplace assault, you can contact our advisors.
How Much Assault At Work Compensation Could I Receive?
The amount of assault-at-work compensation you seek depends on your injuries and any financial losses they cause. There are two categories:
- General damages for pain and suffering.
- Special damages for related expenses.
There is no average payout for an assault at work, as no two claims are alike.
Instead, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) list compensation bands for different injuries. These bands are not guaranteed, but they keep all the parties to each claim on the same page.
We include some of these guidelines in the table below. The first entry is not from the JCG; we have added it to account for more complex claims.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries Plus Special Damages | Very Severe | Up to £500,000+ |
| Head | Moderate (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 |
| Leg | Severe (i) The Most Serious Injuries Short of Amputation | £117,460 to £165,860 |
| Severe (iii) Serious | £47,840 to £66,920 | |
| Knee | Severe (i) | £85,100 to £117,410 |
| Ankle | Very Severe | £61,090 to £85,070 |
| Elbow | Severely disabling (a) | £47,810 to £66,920 |
| Face | Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones | £18,180 to £29,220 |
| Wrist | c) | £15,370 to £29,900 |
| Hand | Moderate Hand Injury | £6,910 to £16,200 |
Special Damages
You may also be awarded compensation for financial losses:
- Lost earnings, income, pension contributions, etc.
- The cost of adapting your vehicle or your home.
- Medical costs, such as the cost of treatment or medication.
With evidence, you must show that you made each loss and that your injuries caused it. For example, you could claim for lost income by showing past payslips, medical notes, and a letter from your employer. This would show how much income you lost and why.
A solicitor from our panel could help you gather this evidence. Our expert advisors, meanwhile, may be able to provide an estimated value for your claim. Get in touch using the details above.
Can I Claim For Damages On A No Win No Fee Basis?
If you have been harmed in an assault whilst at work, you could claim compensation on a No Win No Fee basis. A solicitor from our panel could help you claim if you have been assaulted in the workplace. The solicitors from our panel are experienced in handling workplace assault claims against employers.
The specific type of No Win No Fee contract our panel of solicitors offer is a Conditional Fee Agreement. With this in place, you will not need to pay for your solicitor’s work upfront or if they do not succeed with your claim.
If you win, you will be charged a success fee. This fee is a set percentage of the compensation awarded, and the amount that can be taken is legally capped.
Find out how a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you by contacting our advisory team today:
- Contact an advisor today by calling 0800 408 7825.
- Message our team using our ‘Contact Us’ form.
- Contact us using the live chat feature.
More Resources About How To Claim Compensation
Learn more about different workplace incidents you could claim for:
- Advice for workers on violence in the workplace from the HSE.
- Learn when to call 999 from the NHS.
- Learn more about the law surrounding workplace bullying and harassment from Gov.UK.
To see whether you may be eligible to claim assault at work compensation, you can contact our advisors.
