Can I Get Workers’ Comp in California if I Have Been Hurt as a Remote Worker
You may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits when you have suffered a job-related injury, no matter where it occurred. The experienced Riverside workers’ compensation lawyers at Heiting & Irwin can represent you throughout the process.
The fact that you were working from home at the time that you suffered an injury does not rule out the possibility of workers’ compensation benefits. However, it does give the insurance company more of an opening to challenge or deny your claim. If you were doing something arising out of your employment at the time of the injury, it does not matter where you were hurt.
Talk to a Riverside workers’ compensation lawyer at Heiting & Irwin to learn more about your legal rights by calling us at (951) 682-6400. We stand up for you when the insurance company will not treat you fairly.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits Can Cover Injuries Suffered from Home
Many people still work from home, either as a remote employee or a teleworker. While one may think of workers’ compensation as being limited to scenarios that involve accidents at a physical work location, the truth is that these benefits have far broader coverage. Teleworkers who have been hurt on the job while working from home have qualified for these benefits.
The same rules that apply when you are at a physical location also apply when you are working from home. Here, your home becomes your job site. Accordingly, if you have suffered any injury that is related to your job, you can file for workers’ compensation benefits just the same as if you were hurt at your employer’s location. The requirement is that your injury arose out of the course of your employment. You would have an easy case if you were injured performing a task that your employer directed. However, any action that you took while working from home that would directly benefit your employer could lead to the required nexus (connection) that would allow you to receive workers’ compensation.
You can also qualify for benefits if you are dealing with a job-related condition that resulted from your use of technology or the conditions of your job. For example, because you are working in front of a computer all day long, you could have developed problems with your vision or hands and arms, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. These are considered related to your job because the injury arose while using the computer for work.
Workers’ Compensation Claims for Remote Employees Can Be Difficult
There is a more difficult legal case if you have been injured while working from home and doing something during “break time.” For instance, you may have gotten up from your desk to make a cup of coffee and tripped and fell. There is a legal principle that applies to workers’ compensation cases called the “personal comfort doctrine” which also applies when you are working from home. This doctrine holds that you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits when you have been injured while doing something that could be foreseeably connected to your job. But if you were injured when you took a break from your computer work to do house cleaning, that probably is not related to your job and would not be foreseeably connected to your employment.
You can expect there to be a closer legal call when you are filing a claim that arose from an injury that you suffered while you were at home. The insurance company is even more likely to challenge you when you were injured as a remote worker because they may question the Nexus between the injury and your job. You may have difficulty establishing that connection, or the insurance company may try to argue that your injury arose from personal tasks because you were working from home
Don’t feel it’s the end of the world if your claim has been denied. We “appeal” these denials routinely. But you should consider hiring an experienced workers’ compensation attorney at the outset of your case before you file the claim to give yourself the best possible chance of success. From your standpoint, in the meantime, you should do everything that you can to document the fact that your injury was related to your job.
Contact a Riverside Workers’ Compensation Law Firm Today
When you are anticipating filing a workers’ compensation claim, even a difficult claim, or the one you have filed has already been denied, speak to a Riverside workers’ compensation lawyer at Heiting & Irwin. The first step is yours to take, and you can do it by filling out an online contact form at hilegalgroup.com or, even better, by calling us today at (951) 682-6400.
