Workers' Compensation Risks When Working From Home

As employees continue to work from home for personal reasons or from corporate decisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers should understand the potential workers' compensation risks. In 2021, Gallup reported that seven in ten white-collar workers are still working remotely and this trend may continue into the near future. There are a few common workers’ compensation risks when working at home, including office ergonomics, slip, trip, and falls and personal use of company vehicles. In general, an employee's injury or illness is compensable under workers’ compensation if it arises out of and in the course of employment, regardless of the location the injury occurs. 

Common Working From Home Workers’ Comp Risks

The primary risk relates to office ergonomics and poor posture when working at home. Many companies provide employees with ergonomic equipment when working in an office. However, unfortunately, many employees may not have a proper workstation set up at home. Due to the stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees may have been working at kitchen tables, counters and couches as they balance finding a workspace with other family members who are also home working or studying. These makeshift work areas could cause employees to work with poor posture for long periods of time, which may increase the potential for a workers’ compensation claim.

Another common exposure at home is slip, trip and falls. These could arise from employees not wearing proper footwear, items located in common walkways (e.g., pets, children’s toys, clothing or other common obstructions), and cords and cables not properly managed in the work area. Additionally, personal use of vehicles for company business could be an exposure for at-home employees. For example, if an employee drives from their home to ship a package for work and has a car accident, the injuries could be compensable since it is arguably within the course and scope of employment.

What should an employer do to mitigate these potential risks? 

Remote Working Best Practices for Employers

• Create and communicate the company’s work from home policy.
• Clearly define each employee’s scope of work and expectations while working at home. Set fixed work hours, meal and rest periods.
• Determine what equipment will be supplied by the employer to employees at home and what may be expected to be purchased by the employee (e.g., desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards, mouse and footrests).
• Develop at-home ergonomics guidelines and have employees establish a designated work area.
• Provide safety training that cover common risk factors, proper ergonomic workstation setup, common safety hazards and work from home best practices. Consider a checklist or self-assessment to evaluate remote working safety.
• Develop a process to address ergonomic concerns when employees report discomfort. There are numerous online ergonomic assessment tools available.
• Limit personal use of vehicles for company business when necessary.

Employee Work From Home Best Practices

• Utilize an ergonomic chair and consider using a footrest if your feet don’t rest flat on the floor.
• Connect laptops to a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse.
• Use a headset.
• Take frequent posture breaks every 30 minutes or hour. Try to get up and move. Consider doing some simple stretches and stand-up during phone or video calls.
• Make sure walking surfaces are clear and free of obstructions.

Post Injury Management

In the event an employee incurs a work-related injury, it's crucial to have an injury reporting process in place and that it's communicated to all employees. When employees work in an office, managers and Human Resources Staff are usually located nearby. They can easily communicate with an injured employee where they should visit to be treated by an in-network medical provider for a non-emergency injury. For home-based employees, where the local in-network medical provider may not have been predetermined, employers should have a system to communicate with employees where they should go for non-emergency medical treatment. Employers should also update their post-injury management process to complete a virtual accident analysis.

Working from home provides employers and employees with numerous benefits. With these benefits come several potential workers' compensation risks that should be understood and properly managed.  '

By Woody Dwyer 

Woody is the Director of Loss Control for AmTrust Insurance. For over 25 years, he has been helping businesses assess their operational risks and work towards building a safe and productive workplace. Woody has conducted high impact presentations throughout the world on diverse topics ranging from implementing effective risk management strategies to developing effective and efficient safety and ergonomic programs. Woody has written or been featured in numerous industry and trade publications discussing workers compensation, health and safety and ergonomics. He holds a Master of Science degree and is a Certified Professional Ergonomist, CPE.

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