A recent ruling by the Supreme Court has confirmed that workers injured while working from home are entitled to the same protection as those injured in the workplace. The judgment followed a case supported by the trade union HK, involving a member who fell at home in December 2020 and suffered a serious shoulder injury while returning to her desk from a coffee break. Authorities initially rejected the case, arguing the fall was due to a private object in the home. However, the Court ruled unanimously that making coffee is a natural extension of work activity and that the injury qualified as an occupational accident under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The ruling provides reassurance to workers who increasingly work from home and clarifies that workplace protections remain in place regardless of location.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.