Workplace Injuries in the WFH Era: A Tale from Germany

I know that we all know the answer to this question, but there's a damn good reason to ask it - again.

Why is the whole world working from home, first and foremost? Safety comes first, period. Case closed.

Your home is your castle, so all you have to do is hustle. We can all also agree that working from home is mostly enjoyable. There are some downsides. But let's be honest about it. When you compare them with the well-known advantages, it's no wonder so many people don't want to get back to the office.

WHF Strong - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

"The man was working from home and on his way to his desk one floor below his bedroom" when something bad and painful happened.

"While walking on the spiral staircase connecting the rooms, the unnamed man slipped and broke his back."

Accidents do happen. Everyone's home included. But, here's the thing. Technically speaking, this remote worker got injured on his way to work.

One or a thousand steps, does it really matter?

At home, or on the way to the office, does it really matter? Well, according to the insurance companies, it does.

This incident took place in Germany. Now, imagine this injured man's surprise and frustration when "his employer's insurance refused to cover the claim."

To add insult to injury (figuratively, literally, and most importantly - legally), "two lower courts disagreed over whether it qualified as a commute."

The federal social court in Kassel, Germany, had to step in and flex its legal muscle so that justice could be served.

The Murphy's Law vs. The Labor Law

The court ruled that the injured remote work was officially commuting and that this was a workplace accident, also officially.

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know what's the situation with the EU laws and precedents.

One thing I'm sure about, though, is that work from home has become a universal thing or phenomenon or call it what you like.

That's why Uncle Sam's legal logic sounds fair and justifiable for any remote workers who may find themselves in a similar solution while working from home:

Each judge, when deciding a matter before him or her, selects the prior cases on which to rely; no external authority designates precedents.

The hero of this story didn't break his nail while typing on his laptop. We're talking about a serious injury that's going to prevent him from working from home or office, for that matter.

That's why his legal "victory" was so important to all remote workers around the globe. I have to add that this was rather a bittersweet victory.

The court noted that the employee usually started working in his home office “immediately without having breakfast beforehand”, but did not explain why that was relevant to the case. However, later it said that statutory accident insurance was only afforded to the “first” journey to work, suggesting that a trip on the way to get breakfast after already being in the home office could be rejected.

A breakfast made all the difference in this unique case. A worker who goes to work straight from his bed (literally) without even having breakfast first, should be the remote worker of the decade. Instead, he had to fight his insurance company all the way to the federal court.

I hope this is the first and the last time quote marks were used for work injuries in the same sentence with work from home. In the meantime, watch your step, and make sure you don't skip breakfast on your way to cast your vote for my Noonies2021 nomination for the Contributor of the Year in Remote-Teams category.