Employee broke the laptop screen, who pays?

In the Netherlands the employer owns business hardware and carries the operational risk. Damage from normal use or a mishap is on the employer. You can only recover costs in case of intent or conscious recklessness, and that is a high bar.

Try this first

1. 1Look at how it happened. Bag fell off the bike, kid climbed on the laptop, coffee spill: that is normal use, not blameworthy. Repair or replacement is on the company.
2. 2Check your accidental-damage cover. Dell ProSupport Plus, HP Active Care, Lenovo Premier Care and AppleCare+ for Business usually cover drops and spills fully after a fixed deductible per claim.
3. 3Without accidental cover, compare the repair price (Dell Latitude screen around 250 to 400 euro fitted, MacBook Pro screens noticeably higher) against a swap from stock.
4. 4Put in your hardware policy that damage from normal use is on the company, plus the exception for intent or conscious recklessness (Dutch civil code art 7:661). That ends the yearly debate.
5. 5Price accidental cover or a collective laptop insurance into your next cycle, especially if people travel or work outdoors. Two screen claims a year usually earn back the premium.

None of the above fits?

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