New court judgment on working from home: Coffee brewing is part of the working day
A fall in the home office is a work-related injury, according to a new High Court judgment. The judgment is important because it expands the boundaries for when an injury that has occurred while working from home is covered.
Work or not?
As a general rule, the same legislation applies to work-related injuries – regardless of where the work is performed. Nevertheless, it can be more difficult to have an accident at home acknowledged as a work-related injury, because the boundaries for when you are in fact working at your home office are more blurry than when you are working at your workplace.
“It’s essentially about whether you sustained the injury while performing your work,” Mette Hjøllund Schousboe explains.
However, problems may arise if an employee is injured while hanging out the washing or putting out the rubbish. These cases will be considered not to be work-related injuries.
But with the judgment from the Eastern High Court, it is established that the woman was still working even though she was on her way to the coffee machine.
"It had a natural link to the work that A wanted to make coffee as stated, and that, in isolation, this coffee brewing is related to the conditions applicable to the work," the judgment reads, among other things.
A rare decision
Finansforbundet's Chief Legal Adviser points out that the case is important because it is one of the few decisions delivered about working from home.
Previous cases have focused on the employers’ lack of responsibility for the layout of the home, but employers have been held liable if the accident could be linked to the performance of the work.
For example, a landmark decision by the Danish National Board of Appeals last year established that it was a work-related injury when an employee sustained an arm injury when moving a sunshade to be able to see the computer screen. The employee had gone outside to work because the spouse was also working from home and was having a Zoom meeting in the living room.
Also relevant in the financial sector
The new case from the Eastern High Court was also initially rejected by the National Board of Appeals and the district court because the woman stumbled upon a box of private belongings on her way from the coffee machine to her work station. However, the box had been part of the home's décor for a long time and was not safely placed.
"The Eastern High Court judgment therefore attaches no importance to this. It specifically states that it is irrelevant whether the employee tripped over her own feet or fell over a box on the floor," says Mette Hjøllund Schousboe, referring to the fact that, during the case, the employee came to doubt how she fell and changed her explanation.
"The Court simply thinks it's irrelevant what she stumbles upon. "The pivotal point is that she is still doing her job, despite going to and from the coffee machine," Mette Hjøllund Schousboe emphasises.
The case was conducted by the trade union HK on behalf of a member, but it is equally relevant for employees in the financial sector, stresses Mette Hjøllund Schousboe.
"It will be the same for financial sector employees when they work from home," she says.