In recent years, an increasing number of people in Kansas work from their own homes on behalf of their employers. People who are relatively new to working from home or who are telecommuting typically have many questions, including concerns about their workers’ rights. For example, you may wonder whether you are covered by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance if you are injured when working from home.
Worker’s comp coverage is not dependent on a location
A key legal principle to bear in mind is that workers’ compensation coverage applies when an individual is “on the clock” or doing the business of an employer. The precise location of where this work is undertaken doesn’t govern whether workers’ compensation coverage applies. If your employer has determined that you can or should work from home and if you are doing just that, then you are injured during the course of employment. This means that workers’ comp insurance coverage applies.
Diligently delineate your work time
An important step that you need to take to eliminate a question about workers’ comp coverage from working at home is to keep track of your time on the clock. Specifically delineate and record the time that you are working for your employer from home on any given day. By taking care to track and to memorialize the time spent working, you lessen the chance that a workers’ comp insurance carrier or someone else will challenge a claim based on a contention it did not happen during the course of employment.
Workers’ compensation laws and procedures can be quite complicated. As a consequence, you are well served consulting with a seasoned workers’ compensation attorney if you work from home and become injured on the job or during the course of your employment.