Understanding and Dealing With a Work From Home Injury

Work-from-home injury – what is it and how can we deal with it in today's new normal?

Wearing masks, social distancing, staying at home, and working from home has become our new reality due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, there is an unexpected issue that this caused for a lot of remote workers. Since almost everyone is working from the homefront, what happens if you encounter an injury while working from home? Additionally, concerns around personal claims have also been raised.

• Will your employer's workers' compensation insurance cover your injury while working from home?
• Or is your private health insurance policy your only choice?

As with most legal questions, the answer really depends on each case. each one is unique and has a different set of circumstances. So, there is no cookie-cutter answer for each one.

Companies may overlook executing workplace safety protocols in remote settings. Because of this, claims start piling up. Normally, if an injury happens in the workplace, the responsibility falls to the company or employer. Additionally, Workers’ Compensation covers the matter. However, some lines may blur when it comes to working from home injuries.

As a result, an owner or employer has a responsibility to ensure that all of the employees are protected and safe. This includes agents working on-site and at home. It’s just as essential to prevent working from home mishaps as those at the workplace.

Let's first delve into the definition of what a work-from-home injury is.

Defining a Work From Home Injury

In theory, a work-from-home injury is as legitimate, valid, and true as an injury at your office. However, this doesn't always go smoothly. There are several gray areas that cause blurring of the lines and confusion around the law. Realistically speaking, not every work-from-home injury or accident will count as a compensable one. So how do you know if an injury from remote work can be compensated by the employer?

To know whether or not your injury is considered work-related, try answering the following queries:

• Did the employer or business benefit from the actions of the employee when the accident happened?
• Did the management, employer, or business require the employee to engage in the specific movement or activity that caused the injury?
• Was the activity that the employee did relate to his/her job?

To further clear the grey areas, let's delve into some examples of personal injuries that may occur while working remotely.

What Are Some Examples of a Work From Home Injury?

Injuries that occur when working from home are generally different from injuries that happen in the office. For one, your office may provide you with ergonomic chairs with plenty of support. Employers can also provide wrist protectors for your keyboard and mouse and an office with proper space for meetings. Additionally, as compared to a formal office setting, there aren't as many distractions as compared to the home where you have your kids, pets, and other family members.

 

However, you won’t necessarily have all those things when you work from your own home. We all have unique living situations which makes it different for each one when it comes to being prone to at-home injuries.

Here are a few potential at-home work-injury-related cases you may encounter:

• One slips and falls in his room while taking a short break.
• He or she spills hot coffee on his hand during his or her lunch break which causes debilitating burns.
• The employee trips and falls over their kid's toy on the employee’s way to their laptop for a meeting.
• An employee suffers back pains from sitting too long in front of his/her computer.

This is not an exhaustive list of examples. Realistically speaking, we all have our own unique living situations which can cause different accidents for each one. Additionally, here are some home office essentials you can check out that will help lessen injuries at home.

If a Work-From-Home Injury Occurs, Who Pays?

Over half of work-from-home injuries occur from a home-office setup not well-suited for work. The most common ones are related to MSDs or musculoskeletal disorders.

Since equipment can be pricey, many employers may not be willing or are unable to make an initial investment to prevent the onset of MSDs for each employer's home setup. Because of this, employers soon may be dealing with a rush of new work-from-home injury cases.

According to the law, your employer is responsible for providing you with a safe workplace. This includes your workspace while you are working from home.

Workers' Compensation Benefits

Here are some basics concepts that are essential to familiarize yourself with:

• Accident Was Not Caused By Negligence

You can be compensated if it was purely an accident, which means the accident was not caused by your negligence.

• Injuries While Working

This means that the injuries happened anytime you were performing tasks related to your job. Additionally, the injuries can happen in an office, at home, or on-site.

• Will Cover Medical Treatment and Some of Your Lost Earnings.

Workers’ compensation won’t cover the following:

• pain and suffering encountered from the accident,
• emotional distress from the accident,
• loss of consortium
• the full value of your lost salary.

In Conclusion

The current working environment has changed dramatically because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Because of this, there has been a lot of cases regarding the issue of personal injury claims. It is essential to know your rights when claiming for personal injury when working from home.