Who Are Invitees?

Invitees differ from licensees in that the person has been "invited" to enter the property owner.

Most commonly, an invitee is a person that enters a property for a specific business purpose, such as a patron in a restaurant. A patron in a restaurant is an invitee that is implied by the business existing, indicating being open, and inviting customers to enter to eat at their facility.

The patron of the restaurant must be kept safe at all times from any dangers that they may encounter in the restaurant that could be created during their visit. Usually this can be in the case of a "wet floor sign" being posted near an area of the floor where a liquid was spilled, or was recently mopped.

This warning is a proof that the owner of the establishment has made an attempt to warn his patrons of the danger that if they are not careful in that area, or choose to walk through it, that they may slip and fall causing harm to themselves. Another example of the owner looking after the well being of the patron would be requiring that all servers inform their patrons when a plate of food may be too hot in temperature to touch, that could end up burning them.

In this case the server using a protective measure, would place the plate where the patron wanted it and urging them not to touch it. If the person chose to still touch the place afterwards, and was burned due to that touch, then they could not hold the owner or restaurant liableresponsibilityThe safety of a invitee is the most important aspect for an owner of a property to take care of. This is because it is expected when giving the consent of entrance to the person.

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