Sign waiver for safety?

shepworth

The Office Manager was just telling me about her husbands employer. He asks the employees to sign an agreement that they will not work in any areas that are unsafe, and if they do the company will not be liable. Is this legal? Is the employer basically saying he is not responsible for workers comp?

SMace

That would not fly in NC. I can't imagine anywhere it would be legal.

In NC , you can discipline an ee for performing an unsafe act, but you cannot deny WC.

I would suggest calling your state Industrial Commission.

LivindonSouth

That's a pretty meaningless, screwball document. Might the man be willing to say which work areas are unsafe? And if he identifies them, how does he justify having and keeping them? How is one to know that a work area is unsafe? Regardless of those rhetorical questions, the employer cannot escape his responsibility for a safe workplace and he cannot have his employees sign away his workers' comp liability. Most work comp accidents and incidents are not due to unsafe work areas to begin with. Some are, but the majority are not. Regardless of that, he is responsible for them all.

safety

I tell all new hires that they will not be terminated for refusing an order to perform work that is unsafe, immoral, unethical or illegal but I don’t think this is the same as the document in the original post.

LivindonSouth

'Immoral or unethical' could be pretty tenuous. You may be giving some employees the right to refuse work based on some screwball personal explanation that it's somehow immoral according to their mindset. You have in effect created the ultimate escape clause which far exceeds the whistleblower statute.

For example, it may be 'immoral', according to my warped principles, for me to work the night shift with two unmarried females who always wear bluejeans and pancake makeup. So, I have the right to refuse that assignment since you told me I did.