A German court ruled that a man who fell down a staircase while walking from his bedroom to his home office was covered by his company's workplace accident insurance policy.
The Federal Social Court of Germany delivered a victory to an area sales manager who broke his back in the fall. The man who usually started his day without having breakfast and headed immediately to his home office broke his neck when he slipped on the spiral staircase in his apartment.
A lower court had previously ruled that the man's walk to his home office was not an insured company path, but rather an uninsured preparation act that precedes the actual insured activity. The employee appealed the decision.
In his appeal, the employee argued that employees who work from home shouldn't have to worry about accident insurance. He said that many people worked from home during the current epidemic.
The country enacted a work from home rule from January to June because of the coronaviruses. It is considering a similar measure in light of rising covid-19 infections in Europe.
