Workers’ Compensation

One man filed for workers’ comp after falling down the steps in his own home.  I’m Amy E. Feldman.

A man in Germany slipped while walking downstairs from his bedroom but claimed that his injury was work-related because he was headed for his home office, and so it should be covered by Germany’s version of workers’ comp insurance.  He won.

Now that many people are working from home, they want to know, in the US, does workers comp cover injuries if you’re not at the office?  If your job grants you the right to work from home, your home is your workplace, so you can be covered if the injury arises out of and in the course of your employment.  So if you’re hurt folding laundry, no.  But if you slip on the driveway while collecting a work package, yes.  But unlike in Germany, in the US, workers’ comp doesn’t cover injuries that happen the commute to or from work, whether your commute is via the parkway or the pantry.