Workers’ Comp Coverage When Every Day Is Bring Your Child (and Pets, and Neighbors) to Work Day

Workers’ compensation laws have been in effect in the United States for over a century providing benefits to employees injured on the job. For many years, ‘on the job’ meant injuries that occurred at an office, factory, store, or other site used exclusively for work-related purposes and over which the employer had a significant degree of control.

After COVID-19, with many workplaces adopting a hybrid office/remote model, workers’ compensation claims by remote employees has become an issue of concern for most employers.

Generally, injuries that arise out of and occur in the course of employment are covered by workers’ compensation benefits.

Telecommuters are covered by the workers’ compensation system, but different factors associated with working from home -- as well as the complex web of state-specific workers’ compensation laws -- complicate the determination as to whether or not an injury is sufficiently work-related to qualify for coverage.

For example, one employee who fell down a flight of stairs walking from her kitchen to her home office applied for workers’ compensation benefits to cover her injuries. The employer argued that she was getting a drink, not working, so the injuries shouldn’t be covered.