Since 2011, we have been assisting remote employees with navigating the workers’ compensation program. In the case where remote employees are required to work from home, we have assisted them in justifying their injuries and have enrolled them in the compensation program successfully reimbursed work-related injuries.
Home employees are covered under California workers’ compensation laws, remote employees are included under Labor Code sec 3600. Any injury that is sustained while performing work that is related to the employment role is covered in the scope of the employment relationship that is defined.
Scope of Employment at Home
Arising out of employment means the injuries must connect to work activities, not just happening within the work hours. Remote workers are covered when injuries stem from activities like report preparation, video meetings, or document collection.
Course of employment covers home offices and other designated work areas within the hours to work. Employees working from home are no different from those in traditional offices as they are equally protected when completing designated work tasks.
Covered vs. Non-Covered Activities
Tasks such as computer work, phone conversations with clients, document analysis, virtual meetings, and other designated responsibilities are covered if work-related injuries occur during these activities.
Other activities during work hours such as meal preparation, laundry, and walking dogs, in most cases, do not qualify as work-related, even if they happen within work time. The critical difference is whether the activities further the interest of the employer.
Common Remote Work Injuries Eligible for Compensation
Injuries to the home office can take different forms, some of which are obvious, while others result from poor workplace setup or prolonged computer work with no correct ergonomic practices.
Slip and Fall Accidents
The hazards found in home offices such as electrical cords, unsecured rugs, and cluttered pathways result in falls as workers perform the mobility work required by the job. These incidents are also eligible for coverage benefits as long as the tasks being completed are work-related.
The elevation changes in the home permit workers to fall as they try to collect work materials, respond to work delivery doors, or transit from one level to another for work tasks. Any falls on home stairs while performing work tasks are usually compensable.
Repetitive Stress Injuries
Prolonged keyboard and mouse use without ergonomic equipment results in carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive motion injuries. The ease of remote working usually means employees work without proper office furniture of chairs and desks.
Poor posture, lack of sufficient lumbar support, and monitors positioned on desks. Most remote workers experience cumulative trauma while working on ergonomically disregarded kitchen tables or couches.
Ergonomic Equipment Failures
Chair collapses leading to back injuries or falls wrongfully sustained result from the use of personal brought furniture after hours. Broken desk chairs purchased by employees rather than supplied by employers are still applicable for coverage benefits as long as the work fails.
Desk injuries including failures such as collapsing desks or falling monitors, along with malfunctions of equipment that injure a worker while they are performing their jobs, are examples of accidents that are considered work-related.
Eye Strain and Vision Problems
Also known as computer vision syndrome, this syndrome, along with a lack of breaks, poor lighting, or monitor placement, stems from screen exposure more than it ought to. Though injuries stemming from vision problems due to work over screen are not as impactful, they tend to get the same medical treatment and thus, are covered.
Mental Health and Stress-related Conditions
When employment events due to a specific cause trigger a psychiatric condition, the work-related stress injuries may apply. Under the California law, such psychiatric injuries may be claimed, but the burden of proof for such cases in comparison to other physical injuries, tends to be much more difficult.
Remote workers face mental health issues due to isolation and burnout, but just like proving these injuries were caused by work and not personal reasons, demonstrating these conditions is more difficult.
Challenges in Proving Remote Work Injuries
Claims outlining the injuries that are a direct result of work or activities performed while home are an ongoing battle with insurance companies, as they do not consider other personal activities caused by the work and instead, are injured performing household chores.
Lack of Workplace Witnesses
Less is more when it comes to the burden of proof for describing the in-home accidents and injuries. Without witnesses, remote workers have to document their injuries more in comparison to their office working counterparts. Talk of skepticism from employers stems from supervision of workplace conditions or proof of actual work injuries beyond personal time.
Flexible Schedules
The increased flexibility of work structures pairs with observation of email activity or workflows and raises the question of performance distortions or injuries.
Ergonomics Issues
Work-life arrangement makes the above refrain complicated for evidence. An injury when preparing lunch, or resting, brings the question of what activity caused the injury.
Disability Insurance Stigma
Underlying conditions or pre-existing unresolved injuries to the body part in question, open the door to pre-determinations made to deny pending disability claims.
Certain conditions such as a gradual onset condition are the work of assessment and review. It can include confusing or routine work scenarios.
Work Injury Evidence
It has become increasingly more important for the remotely working employees to provide proof of work injury and cover injuries suffered on duty.
More evidence bring forth the number of claims made in the scenario suggested above.
Defining requests made for injury claims as work related are within the range of covered factors.
Covering benefits to such claims has an increased degree of scrutiny and works to disprove the.
Discussions within working remotely, as with other scenarios, claims are made on high standards.
Time Records and Work Logs
Closed schedules illustrating the time periods in which employees carried out their responsibilities assist in proving the occurrence of injuries within worked hours. Calendar entries, time tracking software, and work schedules prove the timing of the injury.
Telecommunications and email correspondence provide evidence of work performed during the periods of sustaining injuries. Received and sent emails with time stamps, video conferences, and chat messages provide evidence of employees carrying out their work duties when the injuries occurred.
Medical Documentation
The first aid provided establishes the injuries and the timeline of the incident, as there is now a medical history to support the claim. Documentation such as injury reports, which claim the injury to be of a work origin, and the consulting of the doctor soon after the occurrence establishes a direct relation between work itself and the injury.
Physician’s notes regarding injuries support the claim when the doctor states that work activities resulted in injuries sustained or worsened a pre-existing medical condition. When medical proof about the injuries pinned to the work tasks come in, the case is substantially strengthened in support of the counter of the claim contested by the insurance company.
Witness Statements
In the case of family members, the testimony relates to what happened during work-related accidents that took place in the home office. Although they are not work colleagues, family members that witnessed injuries such as falls or failure of machinery provide crucial support.
Witnesses to the Zoom session who, together with the injured persons, encountered difficulties during the meeting are able to confirm that work-related injuries were sustained during the time of the meeting. Workmates that observed their colleagues falling down during the video sessions, or colleagues who observed the falling and other painful gestures and their associated injuries are known as remote witnesses.
Documentary Evidence
Photos of the scene of the injury showing home office setups, hazards, or equipment failures assist in supporting the details of the accident. Pictures of broken chairs, apparent hazards, and inadequate workstations lend support to injury claims.
Documentation of equipment along with receipts for employer furnished equipment and images of makeshift workstations illustrate conditions that lead to the sustaining of injuries.
Employer Expectations for the Safety of Remote Employees
Employers in California have a legal obligation to ensure the employees, including remote workers, have a safe working environment, which creates potential liability when the lack of corrective measures for known hazards leads to injuries.
Ergonomic Equipment Needs
Desks, chairs, keyboards, and monitors for remote workers need to be provided or reimbursed. Employers who make remote work mandatory have the burden of making sure the employees work in safe conditions.
Many companies offer equipment stipends to assist employees in purchasing necessary office equipment and furniture. However, the provision of stipends does not absolve the employer from the liability of work-related injuries due to inadequate equipment.
Guidelines and Instruction for Safety
Safety training for remote workers must cover home office ergonomics, falls, electrical hazards, and injury reporting as they pertain to remote work.
Employers can conduct regular “How’s It Going?” check-ins to discuss workspace setup and any other safety-related topics to find and fix problems in advance of injury claims. Leaving remote work conditions unsupervised may also fuel negligence claims.
Obligation to Report and to Respond
All remote employees must be trained on proper injury reporting and home office injury reporting (who needs what documents). Issues of response to injury reports which includes investigation and injury processing for any injury irrespective of where it occurred, remains a priority. There is no basis for employers to refuse to pay claims simply because the injury occurred at home instead of at a traditional workplace.
Step-by-Step: How to File Workers’ Compensation Claims for Sustained Injuries at Home
In-house employees do not face the burdens of circumstantial documentation concerning the injuries sustained while working at home in a private office, but employees working remotely must grapple with the required claims processes.
1. Report the Injury to the Employer
According to the state of California, employees must submit injury reports to their supervisors within a span of 30 days. All injury reports must specify the injury’s, reporting the days the accident occurred, the manner in which it occurred, the body parts with injury and the type of injury. Timely reporting of injuries sustains and justifies the claims for any related cover.
2. Medical Treatment
Injuries necessitate the need to be attended to as a priority. Medical professionals, be it at a doctor’s office or any hospital must be informed of the cause of the injury as linked to work, along with the various duties.
3. Trust the Process
Injuries photograph and record include the workstation, faulty equipment, and other factors which might contribute to the injury. Debilitating injuries which might impede work performance must be noted.
4. Document Activity Records
To support claims of injury occurring while productivity was recorded, these records must include emails, and calendar entries, along with recorded video meetings and times associated with tracing work performance during the injury intervals.
5. Gather Evidence From Potential Witnesses
Get in touch with family members or work colleagues who attended these video meetings and can help confirm the activities undertaken, and the injuries sustained. Gather the addresses and contact details of people who can serve as witnesses to support the claims being made.
6. Complete the DWC-1 Form
Dealing with other forms was fully completed.
Accurately describe and fill out the DWC-1 claim forms, focusing on all possible work activities and injuries. Make sure to detail the injuries sustained and the duties undertaken thoroughly, as well as the injuries sustained and the injuries sustained. Ensure that you have copies of the forms and all other documents submitted.
7. Attend any appointments and evaluations on the agreed date and times.
Follow the set schedule thoroughly and answer any questions that the physicians have relating to work activities and injuries sustained, along with how the injuries and subsequent symptoms appeared.
8. Retain complete and documented copies of medical records along with any other records associated with the injuries that were sustained.
Complete records associated with the injury documents along with other associated injuries include prescriptions, records of injuries sustained, therapy appointments taken, and any other records associated with the injuries sustained.
9. Retain organized records that do not suggest ignoring other pending actions and activities.
The never-ending documents you have filed should not suggest that follow-ups on pending payments and other activities have been ignored. Silence on the queries that are raised denotes that everything is going on fine. Active actions taken rectify and amend identified issues before payments are frozen.
10. Consult Experienced Worker’s Compensation Attorneys
If an employer denies a claim, fails to provide the benefits, or challenges the work-relatedness of the injury, reach out to attorneys specializing in remote work injury claims. Remote work injuries sustained in a home office require an attorney when an insurance company denies the claim.
Benefits Under California Workers’ Compensation for Remote Workers
Workers’ compensation in California provides remote workers comprehensive benefits for work-related injuries sustained from anywhere.
Medical Treatment Benefits
All reasonable care, which is above a particular threshold, is covered including but not limited to physical therapy, attending doctor visits, surgical procedures, purchasing prescription medications, medical equipment, etc., and the list goes on. Treatment is meant not to worsen the injury, but to alleviate the consequences of such an injury.
Physician prescribed home ergonomic equipment is covered, if, in the opinion of the physician, it is necessary to facilitate recovery from or to avoid worsening the injury. Office accessories such as proper chairs, standing desks, or specially-designed ergonomic keyboards should be provided.
Temporary Disability Benefits
Benefits also extend to paying wage replacement during the recovery periods when an employee is unable to work as a result of the injury sustained, up to which the employee is entitled to two-thirds of the average weekly wage. Temporary disability benefits extend to such workers who are below the maximum medical improvement or those who have not yet returned to work.
Workers who are still in the process of recovering from an injury and are able to return to work under modified duty in which physical restrictions are set are also eligible, provided that there are appropriate employer accommodations that can be provided to medical restrictions as the employee is covered under partial temporary disability.
Permanent Disability Compensation
The residual effects of workplace injuries on an individual’s health conditions should receive compensation, the amount of which is determined the moment maximum medical improvement is reached. Reduced earning capacities, on the other hand, receive compensation as payment for Permanent Partial Disability.
The Qualified Medical Evaluators’ rating examinations determine the percentage of permanent disability for which specific medical records, functional restrictions, and occupational components are treated as critical.
Vocational Rehabilitation
For other former jobs, injuries that don’t allow you to perform your old role give you access to Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits that provide retraining vouchers. Workers are financially supported for training and resources aimed at skill acquisition.
FAQs
Q. Do I qualify for the Worker’s Compensation Program even if I injure myself while working at home?
A. Yes, California law includes physical injuries that arise from any source whilst working, irrespective of the site. If your job requires you to perform certain tasks and you incur injuries while doing so, no matter whether you are in the office or at home, you are entitled to the same benefits office workers receive from worker’s compensation.
Q. Is myself injuring in the process of developing ergonomically a legitimate excuse?
A. Yes, injuries that are the result of cumulative trauma like that of carpal tunnel syndrome, or developing certain posture disorders due to poorly constructed work conditions, receive Workplace Compensation. It is true that you must prove the work caused the condition to a significant degree, but just because a condition developed over a period of time doesn’t mean you will be excluded from coverage.
Q: Do I need the equipment supplied by my employer to be eligible for coverage?
A: No, you are covered even when using personal furniture or equipment. Documentation of employer supplied equipment, however, may strengthen claims by showing the company’s understanding of the remote work arrangement.
Q: What if an employer says I wasn’t working when the injury occurred?
A: You are responsible for demonstrating injury to work activity through emails, calendar records, or video call attendance. Claims employer skepticism evidence counter work performance injury times about the claim’s legitimacy.
Q: Do I need to defend a claim if there are no witnesses to an incident that happens in my home office?
A: No, the lack of coworker witnesses does not result in automatic denial of claims. Remote workers seeking work injury coverage are guided by medical evidence, timely reporting, work activity records, and other supporting pieces of evidence including spouse testimony.
Q: What if an employer does not accept an injury claim on the premise that the work is performed at home?
A: Insurers are not entitled to deny claims which are supported by evidence only on the premise that home, as opposed to other work places, is the site of the injury. Denials that are based only on the location of the injury can be appealed, and these appeals should be supported by adequate legal representation.
Q: Do the effects of isolation during remote work impact mental health and are they covered?
A: Perhaps, though claims for psychiatric injury are harder to prove. You will need to prove some particular events or circumstances of employment caused mental health issues and not simply the generic work environment or isolation.
Associated Resources for Remote Employees
For more information on the safety of remote work and the rights to workers’ compensation, refer to the:
California Division of Workers’ Compensation – Claim forms and benefit information
Cal/OSHA – Standards and regulations for safety at work
California Labor Commissioner – Rights of employees and duties of employers
Advocate Your Rights as a Remote Employee
Injuries sustained while working remotely should also be entitled to workers’ compensation just as injuries sustained in the traditional workplace. Insurance companies are known to deny claims simply because it is an injury which occurred at home and not in a workplace setting. The laws in California state that an employee is covered for any injury sustained while performing the work, irrespective of the location.
At ODG Law Group, we appreciate the particular circumstances remote workers go through in proving the work injuries sustained in a home office are compensable. Since 2011, we have provided assistance to injured workers in Los Angeles County in dealing with the workers’ compensation system and receiving the benefits owed to them. We have a thorough understanding of the skepticism which insurance companies have toward remote work claims and we know how to counter these claims with strong evidence proving that injuries were a direct result from employment.
Please talk to ODG Law Group at (818) 975-3080 for a free consultation if your employer or insurance company has denied or delayed your worker’s compensation claim for an injury sustained while working from home. ODG Law Group has a knowledgeable team that serves clients in English, Spanish, or Armenian. We will make sure that you receive all your medically necessary treatments and benefits in accordance with California law.
