One of the issues that causes the most doubts among workers and employers themselves is what happens if you have an accident while working remotely . If you find yourself in one of these situations, it is best to put yourself in the hands of labor lawyers since they know labor legislation perfectly and will be able to advise you.
What happens if I have an accident while working remotely?
We must refer to the General Social Security Law, specifically to its article 156 :
An occupational accident is understood to be any bodily injury gambling database suffered by a worker on the occasion of or as a consequence of the work he or she performs for another person.
A presumption iuris tantum is established. That is, it is presumed - unless proven otherwise - that the injuries suffered by the worker during work and in the workplace constitute an occupational accident.
The following will not be considered work accidents:
Those due to force majeure unrelated to work , meaning that this is of such a nature that it has no relation to the work being performed when the accident occurred.
Those due to intent or reckless imprudence of the injured worker.
The problem arises in the elements that characterize the work accident. In teleworking, the worker has greater autonomy when it comes to distributing his working time.
Regarding the workplace , in most cases it coincides with the private home, although there is also the possibility that the worker travels to his second home, a coworking space, an office, etc.
The Royal Decree that regulates teleworking itself indicates that the workplace will be chosen by the worker for the development of remote work.
We know that in order to qualify as a work accident, it must occur during work time and at the workplace. What happens with teleworking? This new way of working makes it difficult to differentiate between a domestic accident and an accident while teleworking.
According to the wording of article 156 LGSS , a presumption is established and it is up to the company or the mutual insurance company to refute this presumption and demonstrate that the accident was not occupational.
The company must take into account the type of accident, since those that occur for reasons other than the nature of the work will not be considered to have occurred for that reason.
For example , if you are an administrator or a lawyer and you burn yourself with an iron, the origin of the injury is unrelated to your work activity. But an electric shock caused by an overload in the work equipment will be an occupational accident.