Man's fall at home deemed workplace accident

A man was working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic and was using the stairs to get to his home office space when he slipped and suffered a spinal injury.

The firm's insurance company had refused to pay out to the man - but the court reached the verdict because they said that the man was "on his way to work from his bedroom to the home office one floor below", and added that the 'commute' was along an "insured work route".

Germany's Federal Social Court ruled: "If the insured activity is carried out in the household of the insured person or at another location, insurance cover is provided to the same extent as when the activity is carried out at the company premises."

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