Nowadays Missouri Workers' Compensation Lawyers are seeing more and more cases of injuries to an employee who works out of their home, as this type of arrangement is becoming more and more popular. The laptop has revolutionized office work, allowing people to do their jobs from just about anywhere.
Many employees are now doing some of their work in the office, and some at home. This is particularly popular with moms who want to spend more time with their children, but need to earn a living. Many Missourians are working entirely from home, as in the case of "piece workers" who do sewing, and many other jobs.
Accidents and injuries that occur at home are not always as cut-and-dried as accidents that happen at an office, factory or other "regular" work location. Therefore, they can be more difficult to win if contested by your employer. Usually, there are no witnesses to vouch for the injured party, and no way to determine that the employee was actually "on the clock" when it happened.
Here are OSHA's guidelines for these workers' compensation situations:
If the employee is performing work for their employer at home, and the injury or illness is directly related to the performance of that work--these injuries and illnesses are considered work related. Therefore, the employee is eligible for workers' compensation benefits.
Examples of work related home injuries that would be eligible for Missouri Workers' Comp include:
Repetitive motion injuries (such as carpal tunnel) as a direct result of many work hours on the computer.