Employee dishonesty - would your team make a claim against you?

Every salon owner worries about receiving a claim made against them from one of their clients following a treatment. However, as a salon owner have you considered that it may not be just one of your clients that may make a claim against you? Employee dishonesty can be devastating to salon business. You could also receive a claim from one of your employees. This may not always be in the way you may expect for example, all salon owners run the risk of an employee having a slip or trip in the salon resulting in a possible genuine claim against you. But have you considered the following scenario? Following a disciplinary action with the possibility of termination of an employment contract, a hairdresser alleged she had suffered an injury from a burn following a spillage of bleach on her, as a result of the extreme pressure she was undergoing during the disciplinary. In an act of self-sacrifice, the loss adjuster who had been appointed to investigate the alleged incident tested the bleach on their own arm with no reaction, proving that it could not have caused burns. It was clear from this, the claim was an attempt by the employee to get her revenge against the salon owner however the employee, to her own misfortune, had forgotten the salon had CCTV footage of the inside of the hair salon which further proved the incident didn’t occur. Having employer’s liability cover in place protects you against not only the legitimate claims that can be made against you as a salon owner by an employee, but also against the fictitious claims too. HJ Direct offers insurance for salon owners, self-employed hairdressers and students. For more information go to hjdirect.co.uk.