Today’s working landscapes have shifted dramatically from those of the past. One characteristic of this is the increased number of employees working remotely. With the growing remote workforce comes the challenge of employers understanding and addressing what workers’ compensation looks like for remote workers.
All questions about eligibility, coverage, and practices that protect employees and businesses can be addressed by an attorney. It’s a low-risk, high-reward investment. Call Workers Compensation | Pisegna & Zimmerman to arrange a free initial consult to outline the legal options available that suit your needs.
Here are some ways we might better understand workers’ compensation for remote workers:
Examining Remote Workers’ Eligibility
Workers’ compensation laws can vary by state and country. Employees who become injured or ill while doing their job are candidates for workers’ compensation benefits. This is the case no matter if they work in traditional settings or not, and it includes all injuries and illnesses that develop at home or on a work-related trip.
Properly Equipped Workspaces
The responsibility for providing remote workers with the necessary equipment and tools to perform their job safely falls on the employer. This includes ensuring that remote workers are
given access to ergonomic office furniture, computer equipment, and any other tools required for the performance of their duties. These actions are known to contribute to a safe workplace.
Coverage
Generally, the responsibility for providing workers’ compensation coverage for employees falls upon employers. Remote workers aren’t excluded from this situation. The rights of remote workers are just as important as the rights of all other workers.
Injury and Illness
Eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits depends on whether or not the injury or illness is directly related to the employee’s job duties. For remote workers, the injury or illness must have happened while executing job-related tasks.
For example, a remote employee who falls and injures themselves during a coffee break may not be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. However, if the injury resulted from lifting equipment for a work-related project, they would likely be eligible.
Job Description Transparency
The job duties of remote workers must be clearly defined by their employers. If they aren’t, then the degree to which any worker executes their duties cannot be measured. This is a matter addressing both the availability of worker’s compensation for remote workers and the integrity of guidelines for all workers. This way, the scope of injury and illness is transparent and consistent.
Communication Culture
Effectively communicating with remote workers about their workers’ compensation issues is
an important task. Employers are required to provide and maintain open lines of communication with remote employees. The ease of execution with which any remote employee reports injuries, or illnesses, or seeks prompt, necessary medical attention should be seamless.
Work-Related Guidelines
Like with on-site workers, clear policies and guidelines should be established for remote workers. Communicating safety protocols and expectations for reporting injuries or illnesses is the responsibility of the employer. Remote employees should know how to promptly report work-related injuries or illnesses from wherever location they may be working from.
Cultivating Safe Working Spaces
Employers are responsible for the safety of in-office employees and for encouraging safe work environments for remote workers. Materials promoting proper ergonomics, encouraging regular breaks, and providing guidance on maintaining a safe home office can be developed and distributed to all workers, including remote ones.
Consulting Legal Professionals
Employers are wise to consider the counsel of legal professionals and even consultants with insurance backgrounds when managing workers’ compensation-related matters. They can help with traversing the often tricky and confusing associated terrain.