COVID-19 had an incredible impact on businesses all over the world. Many businesses adopted a “work from home” model to keep the virus under control rather than having their employees come into a central office location each day. As a result, remote employees have become essential to running businesses smoothly.
This switch was unfamiliar to many workers and employers. While there are jobs where workers can be highly effective at home, many people had never had the opportunity to work remotely before the pandemic. Per a Pew Research Center survey, only around 20 percent of workers had experience working from home regularly. However, by the end of 2020, just over 70 percent of workers were logging in remotely to complete tasks. Moreover, the majority indicated they wanted to continue working in this manner, even when the threat from COVID-19 receded.
It has been challenging for many employers to adjust to this new work model, which has raised questions about handling workers’ compensation insurance for remote staff. However, workers’ compensation continues to be an essential consideration for remote employees, and employers can still help facilitate a safe home environment for their employees.
How Does Workers’ Compensation Affect Remote Workers?
Employees who do not report to a central office are still covered under workers’ compensation, as long as the incident happens while working for their employer during regular business hours. However, one crucial consideration is that the employee has to show that they were engaged in tasks for their job when they became sick or hurt. While many people may not have thought about workers comp for remote employees before, the court system determined that these claims must be considered, even if the employer has no impact on the environment of the remote worker.
Whether an employee is working remotely or reporting to a physical office location, employers must facilitate a safe environment to conduct business.
Common Injuries Related to Remote Employees
Employers typically work hard to ensure that the office environment is clean, safe, and productive. However, they cannot put those same precautions in place for remote workers. As a result, these employees may trip on the stairs, get hit by falling objects from shelving units, or slip on water in the kitchen, among other things.
The most frequent injuries reported involve some variation of a fall and injuries that build up over time due to poor posture. However, with proper planning, these types of injuries are preventable.
Progressive Injuries
Employees often suffer from injuries that build up over time. Individuals may impact their muscles, nerves, and tendons when they engage in repetitive movements or actions over days, weeks, and years. For example, poor posture can cause back problems, and excessive typing can lead to wrist and hand injuries.
Workers benefit from having a properly equipped and ergonomic workspace at home. For instance, ergonomic desks, chairs, and other office equipment can improve posture and keep employees from bending their arms, neck, wrists, and back in uncomfortable ways. Some chairs provide lower back support as well.
Ergonomics 101
Employees are less likely to suffer from cumulative injuries by following a few simple tips.
- Setting up the employee’s workstation with ergonomics in mind is essential. That means the computer monitor or laptop needs to be at eye level.
- In addition, if using a laptop, the employee should purchase an external mouse and a keyboard. If the employee is on the phone regularly, they should consider using a headset.
- Further, their chair should allow them to put both feet on the ground and provide proper back support.
- Finally, even if the chair is not adjustable, the employee can use items from their home to achieve similar results, such as placing a box under their feet or using a towel to give additional back support.
The room the employee works in can also be optimized for preventing injuries.
- Cutting back on sunlight by putting in blinds or curtains and adjusting the monitor’s brightness helps prevent eye strain.
- Further, the employee can minimize their risk by giving themselves breaks to stretch throughout the day so their muscles and ligaments don’t become strained or weakened.
Falling, Tripping, or Slipping While Working Remotely
Whether the employee has a remote work schedule or working from the office, accidents involving falling, slipping, or tripping are very common.
- Tripping generally happens when making contact with an object and being thrown off balance. To avoid trips, ensure no clutter on the floor, including cords that may be a hazard. Additionally, proper lighting is essential to avoid mishaps.
- Avoid slipping by wearing shoes with non-slip soles. It might be tempting to walk around with socks or slippers; however, you lessen your chances of falling when wearing shoes. Additionally, be sure to wipe up spills immediately.
- Often, a fall occurs after both tripping and slipping. When going up or down the stairs, use the handrail and ensure the area is well lit.
Handling Injuries for Remote Employees
It is important to remember that accidents happen. While an employer can perform a hazard assessment at the office, minimizing risk is not always possible for remote workers. Creating a standard policy for management will help prepare them for an accident. In addition, employers can positively impact a remote worker’s home environment by providing simple safety reminders regularly.
What Happens When an Injury Occurs?
Unfortunately, employees will suffer injuries from time to time, whether they work from home or a central office. The employer’s responsibility is to notify the appropriate individuals or groups within the company if they believe a workplace injury has occurred. That is true whether the worker is remote or not. It is also critically important that the insurance company is notified about the injury promptly so they can consider workers comp for remote employees.
Eligibility for Workers’ Compensation
For an employee to be eligible for workers’ compensation, the injury must occur while working. If the injury occurs while they are either getting to work or coming home from work, it would not be considered a work-related injury. This is because they are not involved in work tasks when traveling. Therefore, if an employee is working from the office, it is easier to determine whether they can receive workers’ compensation or not. However, the waters get a bit muddy when employees work remotely. There are a few factors that come into play.
Part-time Work From Home
Some employees work at home part-time and go into the office the rest of the time. When this occurs, the home is thought of as a secondary work location. Since going from one work location, to another is an employment task, if the worker is injured in transit, they would likely be eligible for workers’ compensation. For example, if an employee were traveling from their home to the office to get work-related documents and were involved in an accident during their trip, they would probably be eligible for compensation because they were “on the job.”
Personal Comfort Doctrine
An employee is also eligible for workers’ compensation if they perform an activity related to their well-being or comfort. For instance, all employees have to go to the bathroom. If they slip on water by the sink in the restroom, they may be able to receive workers’ compensation. This is true whether the employee works from home or at an office. Therefore, employees could make claims due to getting a drink, getting food, or engaging in other activities that help the employee be more comfortable at work.
There are many risks inherent to working from home. Many of these variables are not typically present at the office, like children, pets, spouses, etc. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether workers comp for remote employees factors in because the employer may or may not know whether the injury was work-related. An additional consideration is that no one else at home can often speak to what occurred when the employee was injured.
Luckily, this is not the employer’s decision to make. The workers’ compensation company will engage in an investigation to determine precisely what happened and whether it is covered or not. Instead, employers should file a workers’ compensation claim as soon as possible. This involves having the employee document everything that occurred and providing details on where the injury took place, when the injury took place, and how the injury took place. The employee should snap a picture of their injury to show whether they are bleeding, bruised, etc. They should also document where the injury happened by taking a picture. Documentation is essential when it comes to work-related injuries. It is better to have more documentation than you might need than not having enough details for the claims process.
Looking Ahead
When an injury happens at home, it is difficult to determine whether it happened during a work-related task or not. Employers often have questions about whether or not they should send in a claim. Speaking to the claim representative is often the best step in these instances.
Many employers are moving to remote work permanently. Others opt for a hybrid of working in the office and remotely due to the benefits for the business and staff. Therefore, it continues to be essential to emphasize both remote work safety and on-site work safety.
If an employer is not sure whether or not workers comp is applicable in a given situation, it is essential to contact the insurance company and speak to a knowledgeable representative about the incident. Gathering thorough documentation and details of the incident from the employee can also help speed up the resolution.
At Missouri Workers Comp Specialists, our goal is to provide you with the best possible coverage to protect you and your team. Whether you have a team of remote employees, office workers, or a hybrid, it is essential to have the right coverage. If you have questions, contact us.