Employer's Gross Negligence: A Strengthened Framework

Recent Case Law and New Obligations: How to Protect Your Employees While Limiting Your Financial Risks?

In France, we know of a specific regime for inexcusable fault on the part of the employer allowing an employee victim of an accident at work or an occupational disease due to a safety defect on the part of his employer to request additional compensation for this damage. When such a fault is recognized, it gives rise to the right to compensation for a number of additional injury items, such as the increase in pension.

These specific provisions require the establishment of a local policy so that our customers are properly insured as such in France. The jurisprudence has recently modified the scope of these actions. Indeed, two judgments of the Plenary Assembly of the Court of Cassation dated January 20, 2023 established that the pension paid by Social Security to victims does not completely cover the permanent functional deficit, which includes aspects such as long-lasting physiological disturbances or a decrease in the quality of life. Thus, with this new case law, employers could be required to pay additional compensation to compensate for the long-term impacts of the disability on the personal lives of employees.

In response, some insurers have already increased the coverage for the "inexcusable fault", setting for certain a minimum of 3 million euros per claim annually.

Employers should therefore be proactive in reviewing and, if necessary, increasing the guarantee limits of their insurance contracts to avoid unforeseen financial exposures. This measure will ensure that all compensation claims can be managed efficiently and in accordance with recent requirements.
We recommend that you, as part of an international insurance program covering the risks of your insured persons in France with a local policy according to the "good local standard" practices, check the wording of the DIC / DIL clause in order to ensure the proper intervention of this coverage in the event that the French policy was exhausted as part of the payment of a claim due to inexcusable fault of the employer. Indeed, not all contract clauses necessarily provide for adequate coverage.

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