Working from home: convenience or chaos?

Facts of the case

Lauren Vercoe was employed by the City of Charles Sturt (Council). Her duties were office-based and she was permitted by the Council to work from home from time to time.

One day when she was working from home, Ms Vercoe intended to take a break and make herself a cup of coffee. She was injured after she tripped and fell over a pet fence which she had erected in the doorway of her home office.

She subsequently lodged a workers compensation claim under the Return to Work Act 2014 (SA).

In order to be compensable, Ms Vercoe needed to establish that:

her injuries arose out of, or in the course of, her employment – this criterion would be satisfied if her injuries occurred at her place of employment during an authorised break from work; and
her employment was a significant contributing cause of her injuries.

The South Australian Employment Tribunal accepted Ms Vercoe’s claim, finding that:

her home was her place of employment;
she tripped and fell on her way to make a cup of coffee, and as such her injuries occurred at her place of employment during an authorised break;
the pet fence, which was the cause of her injuries, was a feature of her place of employment; and
it was irrelevant that Ms Vercoe had erected the pet fence without the Council’s knowledge and had voluntarily created the hazard which led to her injuries.

Implications for employers

Employees may be eligible for workers compensation if they are injured as a result of an incident occurring at their home whilst they are working remotely (including during authorised breaks). This includes not only physical injuries but also psychiatric injuries.

Employers will generally not be able to escape liability even when the employee creates their own hazards.

Work health and safety risks

Employers have a legal duty to eliminate or minimise risks to the health and safety of employees when they are at work (including when working from home) so far as is reasonably practicable.

Working from home arrangements are likely to create additional health and safety risks that may not be present in traditional office settings. Potential hazards include:

poor workstation set-up;
poor working environment (e.g. noise, inadequate heating or cooling, poor electrical safety);
trip/slip hazards (such as children’s toys);
fatigue (e.g. long hours, being ‘always on’); and
family and domestic violence.

It is critical that employers take pro-active steps to identify potential remote working hazards and implement appropriate control measures before permitting employees to work from home.

Key steps employers could take include:

monitoring the working environment and potential hazards (including via checklists completed by employees);
providing advice to employees regarding the ergonomic set-up of home workstations;
encouraging employees to report hazards they experience at home;
observing any changes to employees’ behaviour or productivity;
regularly checking-in with employees who work at home and ensuring employees can easily communicate with others;
making mental health support resources available to employees; and
ensuring employees have access to first aid and know what to do in the case of an emergency.

This article provides general commentary only. It is not legal advice. Before acting on the basis of any material contained in this article, seek professional advice.

Co-author

Name: Mia Doherty

Position: Lawyer

Practice: Disputes

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