Temporary Workers' Rights to Compensation After Workplace Injury

By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 9th May 2024. You may want to know about temporary workers’ rights and if you could claim compensation following a workplace injury. In this guide, we look at some of the rights of temporary workers.

You can explore who is classed as a temporary worker. Then, we look at who owes workers a duty of care. Also, we discuss what this duty of care means plus the legislation that governs workplace health and safety and who it applies to.

You might be able to claim compensation for workplace injuries. We examine ways to strengthen your claim. In addition, we look at what you could potentially claim.

You might decide to file a claim after reading this guide. We explain how No Win No Fee agreements work and why they might be beneficial. Get to know your temporary workers’ rights with this guide.

If you’ve experienced a workplace injury, contact our advisors.

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Temporary Workers’ Rights After An Accident At Work
Who Is Responsible For A Temporary Worker Accident?
Health And Safety Duty Of Care For Temporary Workers
What Should You Do After An Accident At Work?
Temporary Workers’ Rights And Estimating Damages For Injury Claims
Get Help With Your Claim And Learn More About Temporary Workers’ Rights

Temporary Workers’ Rights After An Accident At Work

Before discussing temporary workers rights in the UK, we should clarify what exactly a temporary worker is. Someone who is employed under a temporary contract, including an agency worker, can be considered a temporary worker. Temporary workers can be employed directly by an employer for a fixed amount of time. Or they could be self-employed, and their services are used for a short amount of time.

In regards health and safety within the workplace, temporary workers have the same rights as permanent employees. Employers owe a duty of care to all staff who work for them, whether they are permanent or temporary. This duty is established by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Under it, employers should take reasonable steps to protect those working for them from harm while they are in the workplace and performing their duties.

If you are injured while working as a temporary worker, then you may be eligible to claim against your employer if the following applies:

You were owed a duty of care by an employer.
This duty was breached by the employer. For example, the employer failed to perform regular risk assessments and address any hazards they came across during these assessments.
You were injured in a work accident because of this breach.

For more advice about temporary workers rights and if they affect your eligibility to start a personal injury claim, contact our advisors for free either online or by calling us.

Who Is Responsible For A Temporary Worker Accident?

A temporary worker hired on a seasonal basis will have a different employer than an agency worker. Seasonal and staff bank employees are not considered agency workers as their contract is with the employer and not an agency, as mentioned above.

Usually, the employer will be responsible for the health and safety of the staff. However, this could change with an agency worker. The agency might be responsible for providing staff with training, for example.

Negligence arises when your employer, whether this is the business or your agency, fails to take reasonable steps to reduce workplace risks. If an injury occurs due to a breach in the duty of care, you might be able to make a personal injury claim.

Contact our advisors to discuss your potential injury at work claim.

Health And Safety Duty Of Care For Temporary Workers

Every worker, including temporary workers, should expect employers to take reasonably practical steps to ensure your health and safety while in the workplace. This is part of their duty of care and they owe it to workers under the HASAWA.

Employers should provide:

Free training. Any workplace training required to safely carry out work duties needs to be provided. For seasonal employees, this would be by the employer. Agency staff, however, may find it is their agency.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). If PPE is required to carry out work, it needs to be provided to staff for free.

If you’ve experienced an injury due to employer or agency negligence, our advisors can help you start a compensation claim.

Workplace Injury Statistics

Certain workplace injuries need to be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). Statistics are collected by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 2020/21 saw 51,211 non-fatal injuries reported under RIDDOR.

What Should You Do After An Accident At Work?

To claim compensation, you will need to prove employer or agency negligence caused your injuries. Actions taken after an injury could help strengthen your claim.

Following an injury, you could:

Seek medical attention. Medical records could be submitted as evidence. To claim compensation, you might be invited to an independent medical assessment.
Note witness contact details. If there are any witnesses, you could note their contact details. If claiming compensation, they could provide a statement at a later date.
Request CCTV. Even as a temporary or agency worker, you could request CCTV footage from the relevant person.
Fill in the accident log book. If ten or more people work at your workplace, then the business must have a logbook to report accidents in the workplace.
Seek legal advice. A personal injury solicitor can advise you on your temporary workers’ rights in regards to health and safety.

Following an accident at work, you do have employee rights. Talk to our advisors for further information about your potential claim.

Temporary Workers’ Rights And Estimating Damages For Injury Claims

You might wonder how much compensation you could seek for accident at work claims. Each injury, along with the set of circumstances is different. Compensation claims, however, could come with two heads. We discuss each in more detail below.

General Damages

You claim general damages to compensate for your physical injuries and any mental health impact they had. To help assign value to your injuries, solicitors refer to a document titled the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Potential compensation brackets are listed alongside the injuries in the JCG. We’ve included examples in the table below.

Injury	Potential Compensation	Notes
Multiple serious injuries plus special damages	Up to £200,000+	If you're eligible to claim for multiple serious injuries after an accident at work, then you may receive a payout covering all of these plus any related special damages, such as loss of earnings.
Severe back injuries (iii)	£47,320 to £85,100	Disc lesions, fractures or soft tissue injuries leading to chronic conditions and disability even after treatment.
Less severe facial scarring	£21,920 to £59,090	Significant psychological reaction to substantial facial scars.
Moderate neck injury (i)	£30,500 to £46,970	Severe immediate symptoms from fractures or dislocations, also includes chronic conditions.
Severe finger fractures	Up to £44,840	Could lead to partial amputation resulting in impairment to grip, appearance and function.
Less severe elbow injuries	£19,100 to £39,070	Function impairment but no significant disability or major surgery.
Moderate knee injuries (i)	£18,110 to £31,960	Dislocation, torn cartilage or meniscus resulting in mild future disability.
Moderate psychiatric damage	£7,150 to £23,270	Impact on ability to cope and personal relationships but with a good prognosis.
Minor brain and head injury	£2,690 to £15,580	Minimal brain damage. May have some continuing symptoms.
Damage to digestive system resulting from traumatic injury (iii)	£8,060 to £15,370	Industrial laceration or penetrating wounds.

Special Damages

This is the head of claim that compensates you for costs incurred due to the injury. You must be able to supply evidence to claim special damages. For example, you could use receipts or invoices.

You could recover costs for:

Lost wages. Your loss of earnings could be proved with payslips, for example.
Medical expenses. This could include anything from cosmetic devices, such as specialist makeup, therapy or renting medical aids if the NHS couldn’t cover them.

Our advisors could provide you with an estimate of what you could claim.

Get Help With Your Claim And Learn More About Temporary Workers’ Rights

Should you wish to claim compensation, you might find the process easier with a solicitor. Legal representation could be expensive; however, No Win No Fee, (formally called a Conditional Fee Agreement) is one way to have representation without as much financial risk.

You pay no upfront fee with a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer. In the event of a successful claim, you’d pay a success fee, which is capped by law. This is taken from your award only after it comes through.

Our advisors offer free legal advice about temporary workers’ rights. They could discuss what proof could strengthen your claim. They can also provide an estimate of your potential compensation. If your claim seems favourable, our advisors could connect you to our panel of personal injury solicitors.