Statutory accident insurance
Work-related accidents
Different rules for telecommuting
Coverage may be extended by voluntary insurance
An employee may slip, drop a laptop on their foot or spill coffee on their lap. Normally, such accidents are covered by statutory accident insurance; however, when teleworking, employees' accidents often fall outside the insurance coverage.
Every employer has an obligation to insure their employees against occupational accidents and diseases. Insurance is provided by private non-life insurance companies, but the insurance coverage is determined directly by law.
If an employee is injured, the statutory occupational accident insurance covers the hospital treatment necessary to examine and treat the injury, and the direct costs incurred in connection with the treatment or medical examination, such as travel costs to the hospital and any accommodation costs for the treatment duration. Insurance also covers loss of earnings caused by the incapacity to work due to an accident. Further, if an employee has suffered permanent damage, the employee will be paid a separate compensation for the harm.
Statutory occupational accident insurance covers all employees as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) and members of the board of directors (for limited liability companies). However, the CEO and board members are excluded from insurance coverage if:
- the CEO or a board member owns more than 30% of the company's shares alone; or
- the CEO or a board member owns more than 50% of the company's shares together with their family.
The CEO or board members that fall outside the scope of the statutory accident insurance must be covered by voluntary insurance that is offered to entrepreneurs.
For the purposes of insurance coverage, "work-related" accidents include accidents that happen:
- at work;
- at the workplace; or
- when the employee is participating in work-related activities outside the workplace.
For example, recreational activities organised by the employer or participation in work-related training or schooling outside the workplace are still considered as part of the employee's work. If an employee is in a seminar and stumbles, injuring their ankle, it is an accident at work, even though the injury did not occur at the workplace and the employer could not have prevented the injury from occurring.
The employees are also covered by occupational accident insurance during trips from home to work and when returning. For instance, if an employee is carrying out a non-work-related activity during their commute (eg, doing some shopping or collecting children from school or nursery) and they are injured, they are still covered. However, in practice, the concept of what activities would normally be attended while completing the commute has been interpreted narrowly. The Insurance Court has previously held that an employee who picked up a shipment from the post office on their route home was not carrying out tasks that the employee would normally carry out when travelling home from work. Accordingly, the accident that occurred when the employee was leaving the post office was not considered a work-related accident; therefore, it was not covered by occupational accident insurance.
Different rules for telecommuting
When an employee works at home or at a workplace of their choice that is different to their assigned workplace, the protection provided by occupational accident insurance covers only damage that has occurred during work. At a workplace, employees are covered by occupational accident insurance during lunch breaks, but for working from home, the insurance coverage ends when the employee stops working.
A recent Insurance Court ruling has defined the limits of the insurance coverage in telework. The employee was working from home. When the employee got up and left his desk to pick up his mobile phone from the charger, he hit his toe on the corner of a closet. The insurance company denied compensation, claiming that the employee was no longer covered by the insurance as he had stopped work and left his workplace. As the injury had happened while the employee was not at his desk at home, the insurance company claimed that the accident was not related to the employee's work and thus not covered by the occupational accident insurance. However, the Insurance Court disagreed with the insurance company's position and it ruled that it was an accident at work. The Insurance Court noted that the accident had occurred while the employee was picking up work equipment and thus the accident was still a work-related accident that would fall within the scope of occupational accident insurance. Had the employee hit his toe while he was picking up a cup of coffee or a newspaper, the decision could well have been different.
Coverage may be extended by voluntary insurance
Employers can supplement employees' insurance cover with leisure insurance, in accordance with the Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases Act. Voluntary leisure insurance provides employees with the same insurance coverage as statutory occupational accident insurance, but it extends the coverage to situations that do not fall within the concept of an accident at work.
For further information on this topic please contact Jouni Kautto at Waselius & Wist by telephone (+358 9 668 9520) or email ([email protected]). The Waselius & Wist website can be accessed at www.ww.fi.