Employer Duty of Care in Victoria

When you’re running a small business or startup in Victoria, it’s easy to focus on growth: shipping product, signing clients, hiring quickly, and keeping cashflow under control.

But as soon as you have people working for you (including casuals, part-timers, full-timers and sometimes contractors), your legal obligations as an employer become a core part of how you operate - not an “extra” you can deal with later.

One of the most important of these obligations is your duty of care as an employer. In this guide, we’ll break down what employer duty of care in Victoria means in practice, what you need to do day-to-day, and how to build a simple, scalable compliance approach that suits small teams and fast-moving businesses.

What Does “Employer Duty Of Care” Mean In Victoria?

In plain English, an employer duty of care means you must take reasonable steps to protect your workers from harm while they’re doing work for your business.

In Victoria, this duty is primarily governed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), with WorkSafe Victoria as the regulator. The practical takeaway for small businesses is this:

You can’t just react when something goes wrong - you need a proactive safety approach.
You don’t need a perfect workplace - you need a reasonably safe workplace, based on your risks and resources.
Your obligations apply even if you have a small team, a casual workforce, or a hybrid/remote setup.

Most founders and business owners want to do the right thing. The challenge is knowing what “the right thing” looks like in real life, especially when your workplace might be:

a retail shop, studio, warehouse, café, or clinic;
a shared coworking space;
a client site (for service businesses); or
someone’s home (for remote teams).

Your duty of care adjusts to the circumstances - but it doesn’t disappear.

Who Do You Owe A Duty Of Care To?

When people hear “duty of care”, they often think only about full-time employees. In reality, your duty as an employer in Victoria can extend to a broader group of people depending on the work arrangement and the risks involved.

Employees (Full-Time, Part-Time, Casual)

This is the obvious category. If you employ staff, you owe them a duty to take reasonable steps to keep them safe at work.

This includes setting expectations clearly in a properly drafted Employment Contract, but also following through with real systems (training, supervision, safe equipment, incident reporting and so on).

Contractors And Labour Hire

Many startups lean heavily on contractors. Even where someone is not technically an employee, you may still have safety obligations depending on how work is managed, where it happens, and who controls the environment.

For example, if you engage someone to work on-site at your premises, you’ll usually need to ensure your site is safe for them while they’re there.

Visitors, Customers And The Public

Your OHS duties as an employer are focused on people at work (including employees and others engaged by your business). Separately, you may also have duties under general negligence principles and public liability considerations to take reasonable care for visitors, customers and members of the public who could be affected by how you operate (for example, slippery floors, unsafe shelving, poor crowd management, or aggressive behaviour in-store).

This is especially relevant for retail, hospitality, events, fitness, allied health and childcare-adjacent businesses.

What Does Employer Duty Of Care In Victoria Require In Practice?

Duty of care isn’t just a statement in a policy document - it’s what your business actually does.

While every workplace is different, there are some core categories of practical actions most Victorian employers should think about.

1. Identifying Workplace Hazards

You’re expected to look for hazards before they turn into incidents. Hazards might include:

physical hazards (slips, trips, manual handling, machinery, unsafe storage);
psychosocial hazards (bullying, unreasonable workloads, chronic stress, poor conflict management);
chemical hazards (cleaning products, fumes);
electrical/fire hazards;
security risks (working alone, dealing with aggressive customers).

A helpful mindset is: “What could go wrong here, and how likely is it?”

2. Managing Risks (Not Just Noticing Them)

Noticing a hazard isn’t enough - you need to take reasonable steps to reduce risk.

Risk controls could include:

changing the process (e.g. eliminating a risky step);
using safer equipment;
introducing training and supervision;
setting clear rules and boundaries;
personal protective equipment (PPE), where relevant;
signage and physical controls (e.g. barriers, lighting, anti-slip mats).

As your team grows, you’ll also want consistent written procedures. A Staff Handbook can be a practical way to document expectations around safety, conduct, reporting and workplace behaviour.

3. Providing Training, Instruction And Supervision

Even a “simple” job can become unsafe if someone is untrained, rushed, or unsupported.

Training might include:

onboarding and role-specific training;
manual handling training for physically demanding roles;
how to use tools, machinery or software safely;
dealing with customer conflict;
reporting hazards and incidents.

For startups, training is often informal - and that can work - but it should still be consistent, and you should keep basic records (even if that’s a checklist in your HR folder).

4. Keeping The Work Environment Safe

This includes basics like:

maintaining equipment and the physical workspace;
keeping walkways clear;
ensuring safe access and emergency exits;
providing first aid resources;
maintaining adequate lighting and ventilation;
providing safe amenities (toilets, break areas, drinking water).

If your workplace uses surveillance (like CCTV) as part of safety or security, make sure you also consider privacy and workplace surveillance requirements. The rules can vary, and getting your setup right matters. (If this is relevant to your business model, workplace monitoring should be handled carefully and communicated clearly.)

5. Creating A Culture Where People Speak Up

Many workplace incidents are preceded by warning signs: near-misses, small injuries, repeated complaints, or escalating conflict.

Practical steps that support duty of care include:

giving staff a clear way to report hazards and incidents;
responding quickly and documenting what happened;
not “punishing” people for raising safety concerns;
addressing interpersonal issues early, before they become bullying claims or formal disputes.

Common Risk Areas For Small Businesses And Startups In Victoria

To make this practical, here are some risk areas we often see for small businesses when thinking about employer duty of care in Victoria.

New Hires And Fast Growth

Hiring quickly can create gaps: inconsistent training, unclear reporting lines, and “everyone doing a bit of everything”.

If your business is scaling, it’s worth standardising:

your onboarding process;
who supervises who (and how);
how to report hazards/incidents;
workplace conduct expectations.

This is also where clear contracts reduce misunderstandings. If you’re hiring casuals, for example, your Employment Contract (Casual) should match how the relationship actually works in practice.

Mental Health And Psychosocial Hazards

Duty of care is not just about physical safety. Work-related stress, burnout, bullying, and poor conflict management can also create legal and business risk.

From a small business perspective, this often shows up as:

unreasonable workloads during “crunch time” becoming the norm;
unclear expectations and constant after-hours messaging;
founders managing performance issues informally until they explode;
team conflict in close-knit workplaces.

Even if your workplace is friendly and informal, you still need boundaries and processes. If performance management or complaints are handled poorly, it can quickly become both a people problem and a legal risk.

Remote Work And Working From Home

Remote work can make safety feel less “visible”, but the obligation doesn’t vanish.

Reasonable steps might include:

basic ergonomic guidance;
ensuring people know how to report injuries or issues;
managing reasonable hours and workload;
clear policies on communication and availability.

What’s “reasonable” depends on your business and the role - but you should still show you’ve turned your mind to the risks.

Workplace Policies That Don’t Match Reality

One common trap is having a generic policy template that doesn’t match what your business actually does day to day.

For example:

your policy says incidents must be reported “to HR”, but you don’t have HR;
your handbook says everyone gets formal training, but training is informal and undocumented;
your contract says one thing about duties/hours, but rostering and expectations are different.

When something goes wrong, mismatched documents can make it harder to show you took reasonable steps. The goal is not “more paperwork” - it’s the right paperwork, aligned with real operations.

How Do Contracts And Policies Support Your Duty Of Care?

Contracts and policies don’t replace safety systems - but they do help you set expectations, reduce confusion, and manage issues early (which is a big part of preventing harm).

Here are the documents small businesses commonly use to support employer duty of care in Victoria.

Employment Agreements

Your employment agreement should clearly outline the role, duties, reporting lines, location (including remote work expectations), and workplace obligations.

It also helps you align expectations around conduct, confidentiality, and compliance with workplace policies. For many businesses, that starts with a properly drafted Employment Contract (Full-Time/Part-Time).

Workplace Policies And Handbooks

A handbook is often where the “how we do things” lives, including:

workplace health and safety expectations;
incident and hazard reporting processes;
anti-bullying and anti-harassment expectations;
leave and attendance processes;
technology, communications and social media boundaries.

This is especially useful in startups, where culture moves fast and new hires need clarity from day one.

Clear Processes For Leave, Fitness For Work And Medical Issues

Sometimes duty of care issues arise when someone is unwell, injured, or not fit to work safely. Your business should have a consistent approach for managing sick leave and medical evidence requests.

In practice, that means your managers need to know what they can ask for, how to keep communication respectful, and how to record decisions. (A consistent process also helps prevent discrimination risk when health issues are involved.)

When You’re Changing Roles, Hours Or Work Arrangements

Startups change quickly. But if you’re changing someone’s duties, reducing hours, introducing night shifts, or changing the roster, those changes can create safety risks (fatigue, stress, confusion about responsibilities).

Even where the change is legitimate, it’s worth thinking about:

consulting with the worker (and documenting it);
checking award/enterprise agreement terms if applicable;
updating position descriptions and training;
managing workload and fatigue risks.

What Happens If You Don’t Meet Your Duty Of Care?

No business owner wants an incident. But it’s important to understand what’s at stake, because this is one area where “we’re a small startup” generally isn’t a defence.

If you don’t meet your duty of care as an employer in Victoria, consequences can include:

workplace injuries (which can be serious, life-changing, and costly);
WorkSafe Victoria action (including investigations, improvement notices, or prosecution in serious cases);
workers’ compensation claims and increased premiums;
employment disputes (especially where stress, bullying, or unsafe practices are alleged);
reputational damage, which can hurt hiring, fundraising and customer trust;
operational disruption (lost time, staff turnover, and management distraction).

The good news is that most duty of care issues are preventable with consistent systems - and you don’t need a huge HR or safety department to make real improvements.

Key Takeaways

Employer duty of care in Victoria means taking reasonable steps to keep workers safe - it’s proactive, not just reactive.
Your duty of care can extend beyond full-time employees and may include casual staff, contractors and labour hire workers depending on the circumstances.
Separately, you may also have duties to visitors, customers and the public under general law and public liability principles, depending on your business and risks.
Practical compliance usually involves hazard identification, risk controls, training, supervision, and a clear incident reporting process.
Growing teams and startup pace can create risk - consistent onboarding, documentation, and clear accountability make a big difference.
Employment contracts and workplace policies support duty of care by setting expectations clearly and helping you manage issues before they escalate.
If you’re unsure where your biggest risks are, it’s often worth getting tailored advice early rather than trying to retrofit compliance after a problem arises.

If you’d like help reviewing your workplace setup or putting the right contracts and policies in place, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.

Employer Duty Of Care In Victoria: What Small Businesses Need To Know