Occupational injury cover for home offices

During this period of virus outbreak, employers are endeavouring to protect their employees, in line with recommendations from public health authorities. As far as possible, employees are advised to work from home. The issue that arises is whether the individual employee is covered for occupational injuries when working from home.   

The legal starting point is that the employee is covered for occupational injuries when the injury occurs (1) at work (2) at the workplace and (3) during working hours», cf. Section 13-6, second paragraph, of the National Insurance Act and Section 10 of the Occupational Injuries Insurance Act. All three conditions must be met for the injury to be designated as an occupational injury. In the following, we will briefly review each of the three conditions. 

At the workplace 

This relates to where you carry out your work. The starting point is that the place of work is the office stipulated in the employment contract, although these days it is recommended to use a home office. Practice shows that the threshold is high to consider something as a home office. If there is a defined room in the house that the employer has paid for furnishing, and there is a written and formalised agreement, it is easier to establish that the employee is sitting in their home office. However, this is rare. As a rule, the home office is the kitchen counter, and the individual uses both the house toilet during the day and prepares lunch in the kitchen. In these cases, is the employee still «at the workplace»? Here we encounter challenges in the legal landscape, and the regulations are unclear. 

An overall assessment must be made where the main issue is whether there is natural and necessary due to the nature of the work to work from home. The intention is to limit the employer's liability against accidents that he cannot control, which occur because the employee is at home instead of at the office. It is often necessary to assess whether the employee is «at work» during «working hours».  

At work

This condition limits the liability to injuries that occur during leisure time. It covers work tasks that the employee performs in accordance with instructions or orders from the employer, as well as the individual employee's ordinary work. The criterion is whether the task is in the employer's or the employee's own interest. As soon as the employee moves on to private tasks such as putting on the dishwasher or folding clothes, we are not covered. The challenges arise in borderline cases. A practical example could be that an employee is working on their ordinary tasks during working hours. If he or she then gets up to help his or her child with home schooling, trips over Lego bricks and injures himself or herself, the question will arise as to whether this can be characterised as a occupational injury. The employee did not get up to do anything in the employer's interest, and this therefore indicates that the injury is not covered by the occupational injury insurance. However, the assessment is not simple, and the evidentiary challenges arise because the performance of ordinary work tasks and private chores are far more varied when a home office is used.  

During working hours 

Working hours are regulated by the employment contract and are the time from the start of work to the end of work. It is again delimited for injuries that occur during leisure time. In the situation many people find themselves in today, this term will most likely be interpreted broadly. You don't follow normal working hours, you work early, late, in between, etc. The key question is whether the work was performed in the employer's interest.  

Extended insurance 

Everyone is encouraged to read through their insurance terms and conditions. Some employers have taken out extended insurance, in which case such borderline cases will not matter. The cover often applies to both work and leisure time. Anyone can also take out their own accident insurance to cover leisure-time injuries. In this way, these challenges are avoided in their entirety.  

Have you suffered an injury while working from home?

Contact our office for non-binding, free guidance in your case. The responsible insurance company also covers legal expenses.