How work cover applies to Australians working from home
Almost half the workforce is working remotely due to the coronavirus outbreak. So what happens now if they trip, slip, strain or sprain while on the job?
Careers
Don't miss out on the headlines from Careers. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Employees working from home during the coronavirus clampdown have been assured they are still protected if they are injured on the job.
Homes have legally become offices for nearly half of Australia’s workforce, so the same laws apply for work cover claims and cases of employer negligence.
Shine Lawyers work cover solicitor Emma Crouch said all that was needed to access no-fault workers compensation was to show the injury happened in the course of employment and the work was a contributing factor to the injury.
They would also be covered if the injury occurred during a break.
“If you are getting a cup of tea from the kitchen, that’s exactly the same as at work so if you slip in the kitchen then you have access to work cover,” she said.
“The grey area will be if you take a lunch break and decide to take your exercise in the park … and you slip in the park. You won’t be covered for that but you wouldn’t be covered if you were working in your workplace either (as the activity) needs to be relevant to your employment.
“If I was asked to walk down to the park to ask a client to sign a document because we didn’t feel comfortable doing that in an office any more, that would be different.”
Mrs Crouch said under the work cover scheme – which differed slightly from state to state – an injured worker was allowed reasonable treatment costs and a percentage of their weekly wage until a doctor deemed them stable and stationary but it did not compensate them into the future.
Common law, on the other hand, allowed a worker to sue their employer for negligence and was designed to “put a client back in a position they would have been in before the injury” so included future disadvantage on the job market.
“The difficulty for employers is it’s a new way of looking after all staff when they are in their own homes,” Mrs Crouch said.
“I would expect to see more ergonomics cases.
“The negligence will be about compliance with best practice safety controls.
“It’s OK for an employer to say ‘have breaks’ but they need to be vigilant in ensuring employees do it.”
A new survey of more than 1000 workers on behalf of project management software company Wrike found almost half of Australians were now working from home to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
About 52 per cent reported being able to do their job from home and 88 per cent of those had a remote working policy now in place.
About 43 per cent of people working from home were doing so for the first time.
Wrike regional manager Asia Pacific Fintan Lalor said it was also important for businesses to have the right technology in place.
“Most companies are accustomed to supporting work from home only on rare occasions, which is why the sudden switch to company-wide remote work is likely to present a challenge,” he said.
“Technology is critical in enabling work from home, and we know many Australian organisations are still lacking essential tools to prepare their teams for long-term remote collaboration, which is concerning.
“Tools such as video conferencing, cloud platforms for files and documents, and work collaboration platforms are going to be essential for both productivity and culture to ensure teams are engaging with each other socially and having visibility into each other’s work.”
Originally published as How work cover applies to Australians working from home