Workers Compensation When Working From Home

In recent years, remote work has become increasingly more common in Australia. While the COVID-19 pandemic was a driving catalyst, 37 percent of Australians still regularly work from home, despite a widespread push for employees to return to office. While working from home is a more attractive option for many workers, there are questions about workers’ compensation entitlements when illnesses or injuries are sustained in the home. Under Australian law, employers must have workers’ compensation insurance to cover their workers in case they get injured or sick in the course of their work, regardless of where they work. This means that employees retain the right to workers compensation even in a remote work setting. This article looks at the legal framework and eligibility for workers’ compensation when working from home in Australia.

What is ‘work from home’?

Working from home means that an employee work outside their workplace at least some of the time, on either a temporary or ongoing basis, with the expectation that the work is undertaken in the employee’s own home. These arrangements can be made to suit organisational needs (to reduce office overheads) or the worker’s needs (more flexibility and less commuting) or because of external factors (such as severe weather events or public health directives).

Employer duty to employees working from home

Employers owe a legal duty of care to their employees, even when they work remotely. This duty includes providing a safe work environment. As such, employers must ensure that the employee’s home workspace meets health and safety standards. Of course, an employer cannot control a home environment in the same way that they regulate a workplace, but they still have a responsibility to ensure the worker’s safety. While employers cannot inspect private homes without the employee’s consent, they can provide guidelines for ergonomic setups and hazard mitigation. At a minimum, the employer should create a safety checklist and explain how to set up a safe working space during an employee’s induction.

Employers must provide compensation for all work-related injuries and illnesses, regardless of where the injury was sustained. State and territory legislation governs workers’ compensation in each jurisdiction, and there are separate regulatory bodies in each location. For example, in Victoria, the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 created the regulatory body WorkSafe Victoria, which underwrites the state’s WorkCover scheme. Although there are jurisdictional variations, schemes in all states operate under similar principles.

Key legal precedents

When it comes to work-from-home injuries, a court or tribunal must determine whether the injury arose “in the course of employment”. There are two primary considerations in such an assessment, namely:

1. Whether the employee’s injury was sustained while performing a work task
2. The employer’s level of influence or control over the work environment

Injuries are also covered if they are sustained at home during scheduled work breaks or while taking a short break to visit the bathroom or make a coffee during the workday. However, accidents that occur in the home during non-work activities are generally excluded, unless the activity is incidental to work.

In order for an injury to be covered, the home must be considered an official work location. This is typically achieved through a formalised remote work agreement between the employee and their employer, which specifies work hours, duties and employee responsibilities. Common work-related injuries sustained while working at home include:

• Ergonomic injuries (such as neck and back pain) from working in unsuitable home office setups
• Physical injuries sustained from falls, slips and trips during work hours in the home office
• Eye strain from screen time
• Psychological injuries caused by work stress or isolation

Challenges to making a remote work compensation claim

Employees must demonstrate a clear connection between their injury and their employment duties. This can be more difficult for an employee to establish when the injury is sustained in the home rather than the office. This is particularly true if there is blurring of lines between work and personal time, such as employees working irregular hours without prior permission. Employers and employees should agree on defined work hours to avoid the potential for disputes over this issue, and ensure all overtime is agreed in advance.

Employees are also responsible for their own safety at work, whether they are in the office or at home, and have a duty to take reasonable care to avoid injury. If a worker has doubts about the safety of their work from home environment, they should raise these concerns with their employer. There may be adjustments that can be easily made to mitigate risk, or the employer may decide that it is unsafe for them to continue to work from home.

Procedure after injury at home

When an employee is injured at home during working hours or while undertaking work duties, they should take the following steps:

1. Report the injury to the employer as soon as possible, even if they are unsure if they have sustained a serious injury.
2. Document the incident, including date, time and circumstances of the accident, photos of the scene, and medical notes and reports.
3. Submit a workers’ compensation claim with the relevant state or territory authority, with all the supporting documentation.
4. Seek legal advice, particularly if the claim is disputed by the employer.

Case study

The decision of the South Australian Employment Tribunal in Lauren Vercoe v Local Government Association Workers Compensation Scheme [2024] demonstrates the current attitude towards remote workers compensation claims. A remote employee of the City of Charles Sturt Council, Ms Vercoe, injured herself while tripping over a metal pet fence in her home. Ms Vercoe had erected the fence as a temporary barrier to her home office and fell over the fence while leaving the room on a coffee break. Notably, the Council expected and encouraged employees to take regular breaks while working from home. Magistrate Carrel rejected the previous finding of the Local Government Association Workers Compensation Scheme that Ms Vercoe’s employment was not a significant contributing cause of her injuries to her right shoulder and knee. For the injury to be compensable under the Return to Work Act 2014, it had to arise in the course of employment, and the employment must have been a significant cause of the injury. Magistrate Carrel agreed with Ms Vercoe that her fall occurred during her employment, though at the time of the incident she was not at her desk. Nevertheless, because the injury was sustained during an authorised break, the injury was found to be compensable. Additionally, the Magistrate accepted that Ms Vercoe’s employment was a significant contributing cause of her injuries, because an existing feature of the workplace caused the fall. It was irrelevant that the Council neither provided nor approved the pet fence.

Employers have a legal obligation to provide safe working conditions for their employees and this duty extends beyond the workplace. If you are injured while working from home, you may have a claim for workers’ compensation. The employment law team at Go To Court Lawyers can help you assess your eligibility to claim. Call 1300 636 846 or contact for confidential advice today.