Do you work from home regularly? If so, you still have a job to do, and you are still at work, even though you might be in your own living room. Still, there’s a chance that you could get hurt when you work at home just as much as when you get hurt in your own office space. If you do, then you might wonder if you qualify for workers’ compensation. Here’s how claims for work from home injuries might work.
Working from Home as a Sole Proprietor
If you own and operate your own business from your house, you might not need workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation allows employers to pay employees when they have to miss work after getting hurt on the job. However, if you are both an employee and the business owner, then you might have no need to carry the policy.
All the same, you might be able to do so, with a sole proprietorship workers’ comp policy. They can help you out if you have to stop work following a qualifying occupational injury.
Working from Home Full-Time
You might be an employee of another company, but you still might work from home. Some people might even live hundreds of miles from their company’s headquarters, but they still are employees. As a result, if they get hurt through the course of their working duties, then they might qualify for a workers’ compensation policy.
So, for example, even though you work from home, your house is still your regular working space. Therefore, you might be able to file a claim on your company’s workers’ compensation policy. Even if you tripped and fell on your rug while walking between your computer and printer, then you might qualify, because you were in the course of your duties when the accident occurred.
Furthermore, workers’ compensation policies can help employees even if they don’t get hurt in an instant, but instead get hurt over the long-term. For example, if you get carpal tunnel syndrome from years of typing on a computer in your home office, then you might qualify for a workers’ compensation claim on your employer’s policy.
Keep in mind, if you leave your home office, such as to go get lunch, then your employer’s workers’ comp policy may not pay for you during your break. This is because you left your place of business to go to an event that is not related to your work.
Getting workers’ compensation when working at home might seem a bit more complicated than when you get hurt at an actual job site. Never hesitate to talk to your employer and workers’ compensation insurer about the need for coverage.