Germany: Fall 'Commuting' to Home Office Was an Occupational Accident

​The German Federal Social Court has ruled that an employee who slipped and fell on his way from bed to his home office was protected by statutory accident insurance. Other countries treat home office accidents differently.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become well-established. Until recently, it was largely unclear to what extent employees working from home were protected by German statutory accident insurance. The German Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht) has now passed a widely publicized decision on this issue.

The Facts of the Case

The plaintiff was employed as area sales manager in the field. On the morning of Sept. 17, 2018, he was on his way from his bedroom to his home office one floor below. He usually started working there early in the morning without having breakfast. While climbing the spiral staircase connecting both rooms, he fell and fractured a thoracic vertebra. The defendant employers' liability insurance association refused benefits on the grounds of the accident.

The German Federal Social Court Decision

While the first instance Social Court considered the first morning commute from bed to the home office to be an insured business "journey," the second instance Regional Social Court ruled it was an uninsured preparatory action. The Federal Social Court as the highest instance has now confirmed the Social Court's decision.

According to the Federal Social Court decision, for which only the press release is available at the time of writing, the plaintiff employee suffered an occupational accident when he fell on the way to his home office in the morning. In his case, the Court ruled, taking the stairs to the home office was solely for the purpose of starting work and was therefore insured as an activity in the interest of the employer. The objective circumstances had shown that the claimant intended to begin work. His going downstairs was therefore directly in the interests of the employer. Moreover, the accident occurred at the time when the employee usually started work.

Conclusion

The decision is particularly remarkable because the Federal Social Court made the decision in this case on the basis of the legal situation that applied previously. Following an amendment to the law of June 14, 2021, the Seventh Book of the German Social Security Code now expressly stipulates that there is insurance coverage for accidents in the home office to the same extent as when working at the company's premises. The Federal Social Court has therefore now corrected its previous case law and aligned it with current regulation of accident insurance protection in the home office from 2021. The decision promises better accident protection for employees working from home.

Vanessa Meissner is an attorney with Kliemt.HR Lawyers, the German member of Ius Laboris, in Düsseldorf, Germany. © 2022 Kliemt.HR Lawyers. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission of Lexology.