With the advance in technology, many individuals are ready to work for employers completely or partially on a foreign basis. They can often stay even as engaged within the workplace with phones, computers and other technological aids. This working relationship complicates questions of liability, like determining whether workers’ compensation can pay for the injuries sustained by an employee.
Telecommuting Option
Many employees now telecommute at least part of the time. This arrangement allows the worker to figure from home or another location instead of being at the physical workplace. This helps employees by allowing them to handle an emergency situation like a sick child and provides them greater flexibility to rearrange their schedule. Employers often benefit by increased morale and lower operating costs.
Workers’ Compensation
Most workers’ compensation insurance policies are supported state laws. Different states have different parameters regarding mandatory coverage. For example, some states require that employers who have one employee to maintain workers’ compensation coverage. Other states set the minimum number of employees higher, like five or fifteen. Whether workers’ compensation will cover a specific injury depends on the actual workers’ compensation policies and relevant caselaw therein jurisdiction.
For example, a state may indicate that an injury must “arise out of and occur within the course of employment” so as to be compensable. This means that the injury must be causally connected to the injury. Additionally, the timing, location and circumstances of the injury are evaluated. If the injury occurred during the regular working hours, during a location where the employer anticipated the worker would perform work and was within the midst of performing a duty required by the employer, the injury will likely be compensable if the statute uses this language. In this sense, an employee who is injured while during a headquarters could also be compensated to an equivalent extent and within the same manner as an employee injured at the workplace office.
Additional Risks
Because telecommuting employees aren't working where a supervisor can directly monitor their actions, employers could also be at a further risk of liability for these employees. The employer may have the limited ability to watch employee activities or to regulate safety precautions within the employees’ working environment.
Some employers may prefer to establish additional safety measures to mitigate their risk, like establishing clear working hours and break times in order that the employer isn't potentially liable for any accidents that occur at any time of day or night. Additionally, they'll prefer to clearly state the work activities that are permissible to be completed during a telecommuting arrangement and delineate other responsibilities to be completed within the physical workplace. The employer may even indicate the precise location within the home or other location where the worker can complete work duties, like a headquarters . On-site visits before and through the course of the telecommuting arrangement can also help identify potential problems and solve them before liability arises.
Employers who permit telecommuting may prefer to increase their level of supervision over an employee by installing task-monitoring software during which the employee’s computer activities are recorded. If a claim does arise, an employer may have data that shows when certain software was getting used and when the pc was idle.
Frolics and Detours
Another potential issue which will arise during this realm is whether or not an injury is compensable when it occurred when the worker mixed personal matters with time period . Generally, employers are still liable for injuries that occur during a detour, like when an employee physically departs from his or her job duties that's considered minor. However, employers are not responsible for those injuries that are considered a detour, which is a major detour. Whether the employer is liable depends on whether the departure is caused by the worker working on his or her own and for the employee’s benefit or whether there was a minor sidetrack that the worker committed while within the course of following other orders from the employer. Civil liability for the tortious actions of employees follows an equivalent principle.
Independent Contractors
Another potential issue which will arise during this context is whether or not the individual was an employee or independent contractor. Generally, workers’ compensation doesn't cover injuries sustained by independent contractors.
Whether workers’ compensation will apply during a particular case are often a sophisticated question. The answer depends on an evaluation of the precise facts of every case and therefore the particular laws that apply. Contact a workers’ compensation attorney in your state to seek out out more.
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