Comp ruling means inviting the boss home

Telstra staff are covered by special Commonwealth Government compensation legislation but the central issue in the latest case focussed on whether the employee was working when she suffered her injuries.

What activities at home could be considered part of work or private? In a traditional workplace every aspect of activity, including using stairs, going to the bathroom or just getting a drink of water, is deemed to be happening in a workplace.

It's harder to define work/ home boundaries for a person working from home. Do you deem the whole home a workplace? If so, the boss will want a big say in how that workplace it set up. Where does 'home" end and "workspace" begin?

Will we need to more clearly define 'working hours" for home workers? If a slip down the stairs is deemed to be work- related, would it still be regarded as such if the accident occurred outside defined working hours?

Another point, home- based workers should not regard this ruling as a floodgate-opener for any and every injury at home. Employers will be especially wary about claims after the Telstra case.

Employers may insist on a designated room as the workplace whereas some home- based workers may work off the kitchen table, or close to a phone and modem jack point.

If staff object to the boss calling the shots on their home workspace setup, you could see employers refusing to allow staff to work from home even though it is a popular system these days with people having remote access to their workstations in the office and having phone calls diverted to their home.

Many employers like to be flexible with staff working arrangements, especially those with young children, but now there is a liability issue connected to home workplace arrangements, the rules may become tougher.

If a child was injured in the designated work area at home, on equipment provided or approved by the employer, could the employer be held liable?

A key unresolved issue of home/ work injury is that there's a potentially enormous problem if there are no independent witnesses to what happened.

I expect compensation claims for home workplace injuries might be more fiercely contested. Employers will be suspicious of staff who seem accident-prone at home.

Workers need to be sure their home workplace environment is clearly identifiable and a checklist of home workplace facilities and occupational health and safety safeguards could become commonplace for home- based workers.