Employer Liability for Work-Related Injuries
Supreme Court: Employer Not Liable for Psychological Work-Related Injury
The Supreme Court has ruled on an employer’s liability in a case concerning a psychological work-related injury suffered by a social educator employed in a child and adolescent psychiatric department in the Region of Southern Denmark. The Supreme Court found that the Region of Southern Denmark had not acted negligently and was therefore acquitted of liability.
During his work, the employee was exposed to violence and threats from patients. The Labor Market Insurance authority recognized that he had developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his work in the department. He was therefore awarded compensation for permanent injury and compensation for loss of earning capacity. The Region of Southern Denmark also decided to dismiss the employee due to his sick leave and because his need for accommodations was incompatible with the position.
During the proceedings, the employee argued that the Region of Southern Denmark had acted negligently by failing to ensure that the work was planned and organized in a fully safe and healthy manner. Among other things, he referred to the fact that the working environment was under pressure following a major restructuring in September 2013, during which the department’s patient groups and number of beds were expanded.
Supreme Court: Employer Liability Is Assessed Under the General Negligence Rule
The Supreme Court held that employers’ liability under the Danish Liability for Damages Act must be assessed under the general negligence rule, in light of the requirements of the Danish Working Environment Act that the employer must ensure that work is planned, organized, and performed in a manner that is fully safe and healthy. The Supreme Court also emphasized that this applies to both physical and psychological injuries.
The Supreme Court stated that, in the assessment, weight must be given, among other things, to the general hazardous nature of the work, its potential to cause psychological strain, and the possibility of avoiding psychological injury, including the preventive measures implemented by the employer. The Supreme Court also noted that it is not a condition for liability that the employee has objected to the employer. However, if the working conditions are not generally unsafe but may be harmful to an employee due to that employee’s particular circumstances, it may be a factor in the assessment whether the employee informed the employer of those circumstances, or whether the employer otherwise knew or should have known about them.
The Supreme Court further emphasized that it is an unavoidable part of working with psychiatric patients that employees must handle patients who are aggressive, violent, and threatening, and that such incidents therefore do not in themselves mean that the working environment was generally organized in an unsafe manner.
Based on the evidence, the Supreme Court found no basis for concluding that staffing levels or the use of temporary workers after the expansion of patient groups and number of beds had made the working conditions unsafe. In addition, the Supreme Court attached weight to the fact that the Region of Southern Denmark had implemented several preventive measures in connection with the department’s restructuring. On that basis, the Supreme Court found that the Region of Southern Denmark had not acted negligently.
Number of Reported Work-Related Injuries and Occupational Diseases in Denmark
Psychological work-related injuries and strains caused by the working environment continue to be an important focus area for the Danish authorities. Work-related injuries include both workplace accidents and occupational diseases and may cover both physical and psychological injuries related to the work.
While workplace accidents are typically caused by a sudden event or exposure, occupational diseases often develop over a longer period as a result of repeated strains or exposures in the working environment. Psychological work-related injuries may, for example, arise as a result of violence, threats, heavy workloads, or prolonged psychological strain in the workplace.
According to the Danish Working Environment Authority’s figures based on data from 2023 and 2024, approximately 49,000 workplace accidents involving more than one day of absence and approximately 17,000 occupational diseases were reported to the Danish Labor Market Insurance. These figures underline that work-related injuries continue to represent a significant challenge on the Labor Market.
Working Environment Inspections
The Danish Working Environment Authority regularly inspects Danish companies’ compliance with working environment legislation in order to prevent workplace accidents and ensure a healthy and safe working environment for employees. Inspections cover both the physical and psychological working environment and may concern issues such as violence and threats, psychological work pressure, ergonomics, and workplace accidents.
Under the Danish Working Environment Act, employers have a duty to ensure that work is planned, organized, and performed in a manner that is fully safe and healthy. This includes, among other things, a duty to provide employees with instructions and training, to supervise the work, and to prepare workplace risk assessments.
According to the Danish Working Environment Authority’s report, “Inspections in Figures 2026,” more than 12,000 inspections have already been carried out at Danish workplaces in 2026. These inspections can therefore have significant consequences for companies, which may risk receiving enforcement notices, for example orders to stop all work at a construction site, known as a contractor stop, as described further here: New Act on Contractor Stops at Construction Sites, substantial administrative fines, or police reports filed by the Danish Working Environment Authority.
Employers are also required to follow the Danish Working Environment Authority’s AT guidelines, which are intended to clarify how working environment legislation should be interpreted and applied in practice. These therefore constitute a series of legal requirements that employers must comply with in relation to the working environment. You can read more about this here: The Danish Working Environment Authority Introduces New Legal Guidelines
Reporting Work-Related Injuries
When an employee is injured in connection with work or develops an illness as a result of the working environment, there may be a duty to report the matter as a work-related injury. Correct and timely reporting may be of significant importance to the employee’s ability to obtain compensation or damages under workers’ compensation legislation.
As a general rule, workplace accidents must be reported by the employer if the employee is absent for more than one day in addition to the day of the injury, or if the injury is likely to entitle the employee to compensation. Occupational diseases are typically reported by doctors or dentists if there is suspicion that the disease is wholly or partly caused by the work or the conditions at the workplace.
The reports are used not only in relation to the individual employee’s case but also as part of the Danish Working Environment Authority’s preventive work. The information is used, among other things, to analyze the causes of workplace accidents and occupational diseases and to target inspections and preventive initiatives toward industries and workplaces with particular working environment challenges.
Littler Comments
The Supreme Court ruling emphasizes that the Labor Market Insurance’s recognition of, and payment of compensation for, a work-related injury under the Danish Workers’ Compensation Act does not in itself mean that the employer is liable for damages under the Danish Liability for Damages Act. The judgment also illustrates that the assessment of employer liability depends on a specific negligence assessment in light of the Working Environment Act’s requirement of a fully safe and healthy working environment.
The ruling also emphasizes the importance of companies working systematically to prevent both physical and psychological strains in the working environment, including through clear instructions, sufficient training, ongoing workplace risk assessment work, and the handling of violence, threats, and other working environment risks.
At Littler | Denmark, we advise companies on, among other things, working environment law matters, organizing work in a safe and responsible manner, workplace risk assessments, handling work-related injuries, and inspections and enforcement actions by the Danish Working Environment Authority. You can read more here: Workplace Safety & Health | Advice for a Safe and Healthy Workplace
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