A German employee who had an accident while walking from his bed to his computer when he was working from home was officially commuting, a court has ruled. The man fell down the stairs during his ‘journey’ and broke his back, but his employer’s insurance refused to cover the claim and two lower courts disagreed over whether it qualified as a commute.

The higher federal social court in Kassel said “the first morning journey from bed to the home office was an insured work route”. But, it specified that the insurance only covered the “first” journey to work, which in this employee’s case was the direct journey from bed to his office. His subsequent trip to get breakfast would not be considered a commute.

It’s unknown whether the employee was working at home due to COVID-19 or as part of a longer-term agreement, but as an employer, you have the same health and safety responsibilities for people working at home as for any other worker. Most of the time, risks to homeworkers will be low and the actions you should take to protect them will be straightforward. Things you should consider as part of your risk assessment for homeworkers include:

• Stress and poor mental health.
• Using equipment like computers and laptops safely.
• Their working environment.

You should talk to your workers about their arrangements, as working from home may not be suitable for everyone. For example, some people may not have an appropriate place to work or may prefer to come into the workplace for wellbeing, mental health or other reasons. Homeworking or tele-commuting is a type of flexible working.

The German court said:

“If the insured activity is carried out in the household of the insured person or at another location, insurance cover is provided to the same extent as when the activity is carried out at the company premises.”

They added the law applied to “teleworking positions”, defined as “computer workstations permanently set up by the employer in the private area of the employees”.