Fall ‘commuting’ to home office an occupational accident in Germany

The German Federal Social Court has ruled that an employee who slipped and fell on his way from bed to his home office was protected by statutory accident insurance. Other countries treat home office accidents differently.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become well-established. Until recently, however, it was largely unclear to what extent employees working from home were protected by German statutory accident insurance. The German Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht) has now passed a widely publicised decision on this issue.

In its ruling of 8 December 2021 (reference B 2 U 4/21), the Federal Social Court decided that an employee who slipped and fell in the morning on his way from bed to his home office was protected by statutory accident insurance.

Read More: https://rb.gy/gvmpjg

Greece:

A teleworking employment regime has been introduced in Greece (with new Labour Law 4808/2021), independent of the COVID-19 pandemic that initially imposed remote working. Under it, the employer must inform the teleworker of the organisation’s policy on health and safety at work, including the specifications for the teleworking area, rules for the use of visual display screens, breaks, the organisational and technical means for work and any other necessary information.

The teleworker must comply with the legislation on health and safety at work and not to exceed his or her working hours. The legislation stipulates that ‘When a teleworker provides teleworking services, it shall be presumed that the teleworking site meets the above requirements, and that the teleworker complies with the health and safety rules.’ This presumption means that in the event of an accident, on the one hand, the teleworker would have to prove some irregularity on the employer’s part with regard to its duty of care and on the other hand, the employer would have to prove that the teleworker did not comply with a safety rule and that therefore any accident at work was due to the individual worker. However, case law has not yet ruled on these issues.

Written by: Konstantina Botsari

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