Today, many jobs can be performed from home, and many workplaces have introduced fully remote or hybrid positions. Whether your job involves built-in work from home or the option to take a few days of remote work a week, you could still face the risk of injury while performing your job away from the office. Is that covered under Workers’ Comp?
Pennsylvania law requires employers to cover most injuries that occur within the scope of the employee’s work, and that includes injuries while working from home. Just because you are not in the office does not mean you are not doing your job, and injuries still have to be covered. However, you need to follow certain rules and steps after the injury, including proving that the injury was work-related.
For help with your case, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
Are Work-from-Home Employees Covered Under Workers’ Comp?
Workers’ Compensation covers employees. This excludes independent contractors, but it still includes employees who…
- Are fully remote
- Work hybrid schedules (partially in office, partially from home)
- Have flexible work-from-home arrangements or
- Are working while on a trip/vacation.
Just because you are not in the office all the time does not change the fact that you are still an employee. This means that work-related injuries still need to be covered, even if they did not happen at work.
People think of Workers’ Comp as traditionally covering factory workers and people doing physical labor. Even workers in many of these jobs are injured at job sites outside of traditional office settings, and they are covered all the time.
Jobs that tend to have work-from-home days or hybrid schedules are often less physically demanding, but you can still get repetitive stress injuries and other injuries covered, whether at home or in the office.
Examples of Injuries at Home that You Can Claim Workers’ Comp For
When you get hurt working from home, it has to be a work-related injury to get it covered under Workers’ Comp. This typically means that it would be the same kind of injury you could face in the office, you just happened to be working at home when it happened instead.
The legal standard the courts look at is whether the injury happened in the scope of your job duties. This often covers things like carpal tunnel, repetitive stress injuries, or even electrocution.
Many people who work from home perform jobs involving documents/spreadsheets, editing, research, and communication, which leaves your computer as the most common source of injury. However, others do perform physical tasks dealing with tools, products, and other items that could injure them.
What Injuries Aren’t Covered?
At the same time, stepping away from the computer or your work to do quick chores around the house, prep food, or attend to your children and pets could lead to injuries. These tasks could arguably be unrelated to your work and might not get coverage.
How Do You Prove a Work Injury at Home?
A work injury that happens in the office might have witnesses. Your coworkers or even your supervisors might have seen it happen, watched you get injured, and be able to testify that it was related to your job. When you get hurt at home, there usually is not as much evidence.
This means it is important to act after the injury and get the evidence you need. This means getting immediate medical treatment for the injury and making sure that it is documented in your records how the injury happened.
You also need to report work-related injuries, no matter where they happen. Because your work injury will be questioned heavily if it happened outside the office, you should report it as soon as you can and give notice to your employer that you need Workers’ Comp coverage for it.
If you do have other witnesses who can testify about how the injury happened, their statements could help. Something like a home security camera that caught the accident on video would also be good evidence.
The Process for a Workers’ Comp Claim
The process of a Workers’ Comp claim is a bit different from a typical insurance claim and may be complex for those unfamiliar with the system:
Notice and Report of Injury
When you start your case, you file notice with your employer within 21 days of the injury. If you wait more than 120 days to give notice, your claim is blocked.
Treatment
You should also get immediate medical care and follow through with any recommendations. After that, in the first 90 days of treatment, you will treat with a doctor your employer has on their preferred provider list.
Getting Records and Evidence
You should keep any records or reports they give you, and our Limerick, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers can request full records to help build out your case. This will be vital when the employer denies your claim.
There are often other necessary medical evaluations from doctors the insurance carrier hires that you must attend along the way. We may also need to set you up with other exams to refute the evidence obtained against you in these biased exams.
We will also schedule depositions and witness interviews as needed and collect other evidence to build a strong record in your case.
Filing a Claim Petition
After the denial, we will file a Claim Petition with the state to get your case put before a Workers’ Comp Judge. The WCJ will then hold hearings and meetings with our attorneys and your employer’s attorneys/insurance carrier attorneys and seek to resolve the case.
Settlement or Hearings
If we can settle for an appropriate value, it can get you all of the benefits for your injury in a lump sum. If they refuse to settle for a fair value or continue to deny your claim, we can go to a hearing and let the WCJ decide.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
For your free case review, call Cardamone Law’s Bala Cynwyd, PA Workers’ Comp attorneys at (267) 651-7945.
