Long-term work from home expands company liability

What: Many companies are now facing work related injuries taking place at peoples’ homes and having to figure out new policies and ways to cover these. Fortum tried to clarify using this scenario: “For example, if an employee drops work documents and injures his/her foot, the case is considered work-related. But, if an employee is injured because he/she trips on the family dog while rushing to answer a work phone call, the case is not considered work-related.”

So What: While there are many cost saving benefits for employers to not having to provide office space there are also a lot of liabilities to support and protect remote workers. Providing furniture, safety and infrastructure for good ergonomic workstations will likely be more costly when not standardized in a central office space.

This article is part of Emerging Futures of Remote Work – An Institute for the Future Signals Report for The Remote Lab