Glossary

General aggregate limit is the maximum limit of insurance payable during any given annual policy period for all losses other than those arising from specified exposures. Under the standard commercial general liability (CGL) policy, the general aggregate limit applies to all covered bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) (except for injury or damage arising out of the products-completed operations hazard) and all covered personal and advertising injury. When paid losses in these categories reach the specified aggregate limit, that limit is exhausted and no more losses in any of those categories will be paid under the policy. In other words, once the general aggregate limit is paid out, the only coverage remaining under the policy will be for products-completed operations claims, which are paid out of a separate aggregate.

General average losses are maritime partial losses sustained from voluntary sacrifice, such as jettisoning part of the cargo, to save the ship or crew, or from extraordinary expenses incurred by one of the parties for everyone's benefit, such as the cost to tow a disabled vessel. General average losses are proportioned between the shipowner and cargo owners, usually according to the York Antwerp Rules.

General counsel is the highest-ranking lawyer within a corporation. The top in-house attorney often wears this title.

General damages represent a subjective monetary award that is designed to compensate an injured person for their pain and suffering.

General Data Protection Regulation pertains to data privacy that was passed by the European Union and that went into effect in May 2018. GDPR is aimed at improving security and enforcing notification requirements for all companies processing personal data for persons residing in the European Union, regardless of the company's location. GDPR states that businesses can be fined "up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 million (whichever is greater)" for the most serious violations. The GDPR makes notification of data breaches mandatory within 72 hours of a business becoming aware of the breach and when it is likely to result in a substantial risk to affected individuals. Any business operating in Europe or that has European users or customers—regardless of where the company itself is headquartered—must abide by GDPR. Since S&P's 500 US companies generate roughly one-seventh of their revenue in Europe, GDPR remains significant even in the United States.

The general duty clause is at section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970. In the absence of a health or safety standard, the general duty clause in section 5(a)(1) of OSHA delineates an employer's responsibilities. The clause mandates that each employer "furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees." A general duty clause violation occurs when a condition or activity in the workplace presents a hazard that could have been eliminated or materially reduced and is likely to cause death or serious physical harm to an employee.

A general employer is an employer involved in a borrowed servant arrangement who is the worker's original employer and responsible for loaning the worker to another employer.

General exclusions, in workers compensation insurance, are operations (e.g., aircraft operations) that are specifically excluded from the basic classifications and are always separately classified unless specifically included in the basic classification wording.

General inclusions, in workers compensation insurance, are operations (e.g., commissary or restaurant for insured employees) that are to be included in all the basic classifications, even though they may appear to be separate operations. This rule holds true unless the risk operates as a separate business or is specifically excluded from the classification wording or the governing business is categorized as a standard exception.

A general indemnity clause is a hold harmless agreement that refers exclusively to fault or negligence of the indemnitor, without explicitly mentioning how it will respond with respect to fault of the indemnitee. Under the law of some states, such agreements are interpreted as transferring only the indemnitee's passive or vicarious liability.