Falling in the home office is not an accident at work
Falling stairs happens faster than expected. If this happens to employees in the home office, they are not always unequivocally insured against accidents. A court has now ruled against employees.
Most accidents happen in the home, as the saying goes. It’s just stupid if the household is also the place of work, but not insured against accidents. A legal dispute is currently being dealt with as to what happens if an accident happens on the stairs at home during working hours. In the current case, a man from North Rhine-Westphalia sued. He actually works in the field, but does a lot of administrative tasks from home. For this he has set up an office on the upper floor, which can be reached via a spiral staircase. He fell off it and suffered a fractured thoracic vertebrae.
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The verdict on falling in the home office is quite controversial
Home office judgment: The way on the stairs is “neither a company way nor a way to work”. (Photo: Shutterstock-Proxima Studio)
The employed person applied to the trade association for trade and goods logistics for recognition of the fall as an occupational accident. However, the refused, whereupon he complained. The Landessozialgericht (LSG) Essen has now rejected the lawsuit. The way on the stairs is “neither a company route nor a way to work”, as they are insured by the employers’ liability insurance association, according to the LSG judgment. Rather, the fall occurred “in the domestic sphere”, it goes on to say. A company route is a route “between different insured activities”. The way to work begins “with walking through the front door”.
The plaintiff has already appealed to the Federal Social Court (BSG) (file number: B 2 U 4/21 R). The outcome is quite open. “I do not think it is out of the question that the Federal Social Court is dealing with the question of whether the way to and from the home office at the start and end of work should not also be seen as a commuting accident and possibly supplement its case law,” says Barbara Geck from the law firm Bird & Bird in conversation with t3n. The lawyer knows that the boundaries in this regard are not too clearly demarcated in practice. It is possible that the case will be used for readjustment.
According to the current legal situation, it is highly recommended, according to the expert, to insure accidents in the home office privately: “Some employers also take out group accident insurance in this case, which step in if the employers’ liability insurance association does not classify the accident in the home office as an accident at work”. However, the legal situation could also change at short notice: The current draft law on the Mobile Work Act provides for an amendment to the Social Security Code. According to this, employees in the home office should enjoy the same insurance protection as in the employer’s business premises.
Employees are also insured on the way to the toilet during working hours. However, this does not apply if you are in the home office – according to a judgment. Similar judgments had recently accumulated.
