Worker’s Compensation Insurance
Worker’s compensation insurance is crucial when running a business of any size. The policy protects your company from costs associated with workplace injuries, such as medical bills, disability benefits, and lost wages.
When employees work onsite, it is relatively easy to determine a job-related injury. With remote employees, however, the issue becomes more complicated.
Worker’s Compensation with Remote Employees
Worker’s compensation with remote employees is anything but black and white. The lack of witnesses and the ambiguity between personal and work activities when you work from home make these cases particularly complex.
One of the most significant issues is determining whether the incident was a job-related injury. For example, an employee falls down the stairs going to their kitchen for a snack between meetings. Should they be entitled to worker’s compensation benefits? Or a worker suffers an electric shock from the overloaded power strip in their home office. Is that a job-related injury?
Once a claim is filed, insurance and legal professionals analyze the details of each situation to determine whether it’s a worker’s compensation matter. If it is deemed a job-related incident, the employee is entitled to worker’s compensation benefits.
Avoiding Risk as an Employer
Overall, having a robust commercial insurance policy and clearly defining when employees are engaged in work duties are the best tools to minimize risk.
Here are a few ideas to reduce the potential for worker’s compensation claims:
- Establishing home office guidelines for safety
- Determining specific lunch and break times
- Having strict rules about clocking in and out
- Ensuring employees know how to document injuries when they occur
Please contact Steve Longenecker (303-808-9351, x2) at Mountain Insurance: Longmont to discuss your business insurance coverage options in Longmont, CO, and our neighboring communities.
We give out $25 gift cards for referrals that become our insurance clients.
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