A German court ruled that a man who slipped while walking a few meters from his bed to the home office could apply for workplace accident insurance while commuting technically.
The Federal Social Court, which oversees social security issues, stated in its report that the man was working from home and was heading to the desk on the lower floor of the bedroom. Decide.
While walking on the spiral staircase connecting the rooms, the unknown man slipped and broke his back.
The court stated that the employee usually “started immediately without having breakfast in advance” working in his home office, but did not explain why this was related to the case. However, it was later stated that the statutory accident insurance was only provided for the “first” journey to work, implying that the way to eat breakfast after working from home might be rejected.
The employer’s insurance refused to cover the claim.Although the two lower courts did not agree on whether the short trip was a commute, the upper Federal Social Court stated that it found that “the first morning journey from bed to home office [was] An insured work route”.
It ruled: “The plaintiff had an accident at work when he fell on the way to his home office in the morning.”
In many countries, companies have an obligation to take care of employees no matter where they work.
The German Federal Court stated: “If the insured activity is carried out at the insured’s home or other location, the insurance coverage provided is the same as the activity carried out on the company’s premises.”
It is not clear whether the man worked from home because of the pandemic or if he had done so before. The ruling stated that the law applies to “remote office positions,” that is, “computer workstations permanently set up by employers in employees’ private areas.”
