One of the big work changes that has happened since Covid is the common concept of remote working. It’s still crazy to me when I’m in the Loop how less crowded the trains are and how less crowded it is to walk around. That said, I often work from home and get the appeal behind it for many workers.
I’m actually working from home as I write this blog and before I did this, I took two phone calls, but also went to my kitchen to grab a banana. I also loaded some dishes from last night’s dinner into my dishwasher. In other words, I’m doing my job, but also doing other things that aren’t necessarily a part of my job.
When I’m in my Loop office in downtown Chicago, I mostly meet with people, talk on the phone, review emails, etc. But I also go into the office kitchen and grab a banana, cereal or some water just like I do at home. If I see a mess, I will clean it up. Those also aren’t part of my core job functions, but not unusual things to happen at work.
So if I slipped on a wet floor at home and got hurt or at the main office and got hurt, what’s the difference? Not much really, at least as it comes to Illinois workers’ compensation law.
And more so, if you type all day at home for your job and get carpal tunnel, that would be a work related injury. If you lift a box at home as part of your job and injure your back, that would be a work related injury.
Generally speaking, your home office isn’t different than your actual office where you would have worked in 2019 before remote working was a common thing. Working from home doesn’t take away any of your rights under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Like any other claim, whether or not you have a case is fact specific. If your employer is benefiting from your activities and you get injured, it should be a work related injury and a workers comp case. That means you should get all of your medical bills paid for, compensated for any time where you can’t work and eventually get a settlement for the permanent nature of your injuries.
Of course insurance companies don’t like to make things easy or always follow the law. In my experience, if you do claim to be hurt while working from home, they will delay or deny your case even without good cause. It’s likely because there are no witnesses in these situations and people have trouble conceptualizing getting hurt at home being part of the job.
This is one of those “don’t overthink it” situations. You as the injured worker need to report the injury/accident to your employer, get medical care (and relate to the doctor how you were injured) and focus on your health.
I explained all of this to a worker the other day. He had tripped on his carpet while walking to the bathroom before a conference call. He was told that because it was his carpet that there was no case. The truth is that is not correct. The employer benefits from you going to the bathroom and it’s expected that you would do that during your work day. The fact that you own the carpet is irrelevant. That’s the work environment they put you in. They don’t get a break because it was beyond their control.
Bottom line is that most injuries during the work day at home will be an Illinois work comp case. Call us any time for help anywhere in Illinois at 312-346-5578 if you have questions about a case or want to discuss representation.
