Workers’ Compensation For Minnesota Remote Workers
Before 2020, depositions and court proceedings were almost always done in person. I was in the office of the firm that I worked at every day. I only worked from home if I was doing an urgent filing on a weekend or in the evening.
In April of 2020, I had several depositions scheduled that were necessary for an upcoming hearing. I switched all of them from in person to video. The firm that I worked at went from almost everyone being full-time at the office, to everyone working from home inside of a week. The court system went from requiring appearances in person, to almost all appearances by phone or video.
Most businesses transformed similarly at that time. Many of them have never looked back. In April of 2024, USA Today reported that 17.2% of Minnesotans work from home at least some of the time. This dramatic labor market shift has a variety of implications, one of them being that it may be more difficult to determine what qualifies as a work-related injury within the meaning of the Minnesota Workers Compensation Act.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Workers compensation insurance covers employees that sustain injuries “arising out of and in the course of employment.” The following losses are covered by workers compensation insurance:
Medical expenses: Employees are entitled to payment for medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary to treat the injury.
Wage loss: Employees are entitled to compensation for time off from work due to the injury. This includes total disablement (unable to work at all) and partial disablement (able to work, but not to the extent of normal earnings).
Permanency: Workers that have sustained permanent injuries should be assigned a permanent partial disability rating by their doctors. This rating corresponds to a monetary benefit to be paid by the insurance company.
Vocational rehabilitation: This can be the assistance of a vocational professional with coordinating a return to work. Injured workers that cannot return to their job may also obtain help with job searches, or retraining.
These benefits can be a very important safety net for employees after an on-the-job injury.
Reporting Home Office Injuries
Minnesota employees have a duty to promptly report work-related injuries to their employers. This is particularly important for employees working remotely. From a best-practice perspective, employees should report work-related injuries to their employers as soon as possible.
Insurance companies may attempt to use failure to promptly report a work-related injury as a defense to bar workers’ comp claims. There are many exceptions to the reporting requirement. The most commonly used exception is that the employer actually knew about the injury, but this is unlikely to be the case with employees that work from home. Another common exception is that the employee did not know that the injury was work-related.
What Happens If You Get Injured While Working From Home?
Workers’ compensation laws apply to personal injuries “arising out of and in the course of employment.”
The statutory definition of “personal injury” includes that the employee must be “engaged in, on, or about the premises where the employee's services require the employee's presence as a part of that service at the time of the injury and during the hours of that service.”
A remote worker’s presence is required at home. So an injury that occurs at home during the employee’s work hours likely is “in the course of” employment. The law expects that workers may need to attend to “personal comfort” during the work day, such as taking breaks to get coffee or use the bathroom. Employees remain in the course of employment during these types of activities.
This “arising out of” language essentially requires that something about the employee’s work duties or work environment caused the injury. When an employee is injured during work hours, and that injury is in whole or in part caused by work duties or the work environment, the employee is entitled to workers compensation benefits.
Common Work-From-Home Injuries
In general, remote workers are most likely to perform their job duties using a phone and a computer. Fortunately, this type of work poses a lower risk of injury than many other occupations. However, the risk level at an employee's home is not zero.
Slip or Trip and Falls:
With some exceptions, a fall that occurs while working from home is likely to qualify for workers’ compensation coverage. A fall that occurs during work hours and is caused in part by the work duties or work environment is likely to qualify. Notable exceptions would be falls that occur for an unknown reason, or solely due to a personal medical condition.
Repetitive Stress Injuries:
The classic example of a repetitive stress injury is the development of carpal tunnel syndrome due to prolonged typing.
Conclusion
Remote work is more common today than ever before. The law allows workers compensation for remote workers just as it does for onsite workers. Remote workers that sustain work-related injuries may be entitled to medical benefits, wage loss benefits, permanency, and rehabilitation benefits.
Remote workers should promptly report work-related injuries to their employers. An injury at home may be work-related if it occurs during work hours and is caused by work duties or the work-environment.
LawSmith PLLC is a legal practice that represents employees in workers' compensation cases. A free consultation with an experienced workers compensation lawyer is available to Minnesota injured workers on request.
