Workers’ Comp for Work-From-Home (WFH) Workers

Many companies have been moving to the WFH mode. However, this year the number grew manifold due to the COVID pandemic. Work-from-home (WFH) is now becoming a popular concept for an increasing number of organizations.

This trend has led to an important concern. What would happen to workers’ compensation if a person suffers an injury while working from home? Is the person still eligible to receive workers’ compensation for the injury or condition or not?

Determining whether an injury is work-related

According to the workers’ compensation laws in most states, injuries that occur outside the workplace, but occur while executing work-related duties, are covered for workers’ compensation. However, this may become difficult to prove if you are working remotely. This is because, theoretically, the injury could also have occurred at home or elsewhere at a time when you were not working.

Answers to the following questions can help to determine whether your WFH injury is actually work-related, and eligible for workers’ compensation, or not.

• Was the person acting for the employer’s benefit when they suffered the injury?
• Did the employer require the worker to perform the activity that the injury?
• Had the employer approved, in advance, the injury-causing WFH activity?

If you are not sure whether your injury makes you eligible for workers’ compensation or not, talk to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. Your attorney can address these questions and help you establish a strong claim for compensation.

Injuries sustained during a break from work

When you are working on-site and an injury occurs during lunchtime, workers’ compensation may not always cover the injury, depending on the circumstances.

During WFH, if you are on a break or get interrupted because of personal reasons, any injury occurring during this time may not be considered inside the scope of your work.

Injuries sustained by a traveling employee

Your state may make a distinction between WFH employees and traveling employees.

When a person is traveling for work, workers’ comp may be more lenient in coverage. However, the WFH worker may not get the same protections as a traveling employee.

To claimyour workers’ comp benefits as a remote worker, you may have to prove that you were “acting in furtherance of the interests of your employer.” For example, if a WFH employee falls down the stairs while going from his workstation to the kitchen for the lunch break. This injury may be covered under workers’ compensation. However, if the same WFH employee slips and falls while going outside the house to retrieve personal mail, this injury may not be covered under workers’ comp.

To learn more about Phoenix workers’ compensation attorney, consult the best workers’ compensation lawyers in Phoenix, AZ, call Arizona Injury Law Group at 602-346-9009 right away.

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azworkcomp Joined: June 24th, 2018