An Employee’s Right to Indemnity An employer is not obliged to indemnify an employee. But if an employee is insured, they cannot be the subject of a recovery action by the insurer of the employer.
However, there are some points to note: •
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There are exceptions for serious and wilful misconduct by an employee, and in these cases, the employee is not entitled to indemnity from an employer. Employers can take action against employees who have engaged in such conduct – for example, theft or other dishonesty offences. An employer that has paid an excess because of professional negligence of an employee can, if it wishes, ask the employee to pay the excess. If an employee is sued separately, the employer does not have the obligation to pay the employee’s legal expenses.