Say What? Two Legal Cases on Working From Home

I am totally amazed about the two cases I’m going to share with you. Working from home is one of the best decisions I have made. I enjoy it tremendously. But happens when you suffer a physical injury while working from home.

Many employers have agents working from home. They save a lot of money on office space. But here is where they may run into a problem. In Germany, a man was walking down his spiral staircase to head into his home office. He slipped on the steps and fell. He unfortunately broke his back. The employer’s insurance company denied his claim for compensation. However, the court declared that because the man was commuting to his workplace, he was allowed to claim workplace accident insurance. I am amazed.

Another case was similar. A young woman was working a call center job from her home. She also slipped down her stairs and suffered injuries. Her employer didn’t believe that she qualified for worker’s compensation. But the judge over her case believed that her disconnecting from her workstation to go to lunch is a part of her work day. Therefore, it was the decision of the court that she suffered and occupational injury.

Share what you think on this matter and let me know. I’d love to see what your thoughts are on this issue.