A court has recognized a fall at home as a work accident while traveling to work – World

Court in Germany decreesthat a man who slipped and fell home – while going from the bedroom to the living room – had a work accident while traveling to work. The incident happened on September 17, 2018, but has now attracted attention because millions of people around the world have been forced by the pandemic to move to home work.

The man, whose name is not mentioned, was descending a spiral staircase to his workplace when he slipped and broke a vertebra in his back when he fell. He claims that he did not go to breakfast, but directly to the computer for work.

The insurer covered accidents at his workplace, but disputed payment for an accident before starting work. This was rejected by a labor court, but upheld by a higher-level court of the same system. The federal court ruled on December 8 that the first instance court was right.

According to the law, occupational accident insurance also covers travel directly to and from work. In this case, the court held that the man, who worked as a sales manager, did not walk around his house, but went to his home office. The decision said he usually started work “immediately after getting up without having breakfast”. This description was added to refute the thesis that he went to have breakfast and then sat in front of the computer, ie. going down the stairs is “the first trip to work”.

“If the insured activity is carried out in the home of the insured or elsewhere, the insurance coverage acts with the same force as in the case of work from the company’s premises,” the court decision explains.

There has been a decision since July 2016 that a business trip can be made if the apartment and the workplace are in the same building.

There is also a definition in the law of what a “teleworkplace” is: computer stations permanently located by the employer in the employee’s private space, where the employer has agreed on a weekly work schedule and for how long this workplace will operate. The terms are explicitly stated in the employment contract or agreement, and the necessary equipment, including furniture, is provided, installed and installed by the employer or a person authorized by him.

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