France: Work Accidents and Homeworking

The issue of when an accident can be deemed a work accident when an employee is working from home or outside the workplace has given rise to several decisions by various Courts of Appeal over recent years but there is currently no decision by the French Supreme Court.

In theory, the same rules should apply whether an accident occurred at the workplace or outside the workplace. However, in practice the situation is different as there are rarely any reliable witnesses when an accident occurs outside the workplace and in particular when an employee is working from home.

In this most recent case, the employee claimed to have suffered a work accident after having fallen down the stairs when going to have lunch at 12.40. Her working hours as stated in her employment contract were from 9.30 to 12.30 and 13.30 to 17.30. The Court of Appeal ruled that this was outside her working time and therefore could not be deemed a work accident.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

Ensure that your homeworking policy is clear with regards where employees can work, what hours are deemed to be working time and if possible put in place a electronic badging system to monitor when people are working or not.