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23 May 2022

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> WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS WHILE WORKING FROM HOME?

> WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS WHILE WORKING FROM HOME?

Over the past 2 years, telework or working from home has gained tremendous importance. Society has adapted to this and the need for teleworking will only increase in the coming years. Hybrid working is therefore becoming the future.

Over the past 2 years, telework or working from home has gained tremendous importance. Society has adapted to this and the need for teleworking will only increase in the coming years. Hybrid working is therefore becoming the future.

But what if you fall down the stairs while working from home? Or slip off your office chair when you want to take a document? Does that qualify as a work incident?

 

Four elements must be proven in order to be considered an accident at work, namely:

  1. There is an employment relationship that falls under the application of the industrial accidents law
  2. An accident has occurred
  3. There is an injury
  4. The accident occurred during and due to the fact of the performance of the employment contract

 

These conditions also apply if you work from home. Especially the 4th condition is important to be able to prove that it is an accident at work: the accident happens at the same time that you are performing your contract of employment. Moreover, the accident must be related to the professional risks of the work or the work environment.

 

As a remote worker, you have an accident at work when:

  • You go to the bathroom while working on another floor and fall down the stairs;
  • You sit down at your desk to work and slide off your chair;
  • You burn yourself with hot water to make coffee or tea during the (lunch) break;

 

On the other hand, there is no accident at work when you are a remote worker if:

  • You slip on your way to the mailbox to get your private mail;
  • You hurt yourself taking care of pets or cleaning;

WHAT IS A REMOTE WORKER? 

A remote worker is someone who works from a location other than the company and uses the Internet or a computer network to do so. Arrangements for this are set out in a written contract of employment or a company document.

 

Those agreements are about:

  • The days on which the employee works remotely
  • At what location the employee is working remotely
  • How the employee can be reached at that time
  • It may also include technical support and costs (e.g., internet connection).

 

EVIDENCE REGULATION

For teleworkers, the Workplace Accident Act contains an eased evidentiary rule.

 

Has your employer sent out a company communication to set out the agreements surrounding telework? If so, the AO Act suspects that an accident is a workplace accident if: it occurs at the place and during the hours specified in those written agreements.

 

This can be both structural telework and occasional telework (for example, in the case of a train strike).

 

Are the location and/or hours not specified in a written record? Then the presumption applies to the accidents at the place of residence where the telework is usually carried out and during the hours when you as an employee are usually working at the company.

 

It is therefore important to make the arrangements for the remote work in advance (and in a written form). Because if your structural remote work is not included in the employment contract or your occasional remote work was not validly requested, then this legal presumption does not apply and you must be able to prove yourself that the accident happened during the execution of your employment contract.

 

By the way, according to the work accident law, you are also insured during your trip to go get food at noon and when you take your children to school or daycare.

 

Would you like to know more about this legislation?  Don't hesitate to contact your account manager.

 

Source: Baloise

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