Where In The World is The Workplace?

Technology and a poor economy are redefining the term “workplace.” The ability to communicate by smartphone, Skype, texting and Instant Messaging, to name a few, are having a positive impact on the company’s travel budget. Why pay for costly airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and expensive meals when with a few clicks you can bring together two or two hundred employees for a virtual meeting? The cost of the technology and training is quickly absorbed by the savings from reduced travel, lost time and productivity.

Rachel Emma Silverman explores this shift from brick-and-mortar offices to cyberspace in her Wall Street Journal article, "Step Into the Office-Less Company.” Without the stationary corporate office, companies can tap into a world of talent without the cost of relocating everyone to one location. The article stated that today, just 2.5 percent of the U.S. workforce works from home. While a relatively small percentage, the number has grown 66 percent in the years from 2005 to 2010. Technology, as well as a new workforce that grew up on computers and cell phones, makes it easier to recruit a virtual workforce.

The change in the physical structure of “the workplace” may be great for business, but it brings up questions such as "What is now considered the workplace as far as a company’s liability for workman’s compensation?";  "With the workplace virtually anywhere, does that open up more opportunity for workplace compensation claims?"; "Can companies afford to lag behind in clarifying their responsibility to employees who now work 24/7 from virtually anywhere?"

When everyone was on “company property” or was in some way attached to a company office or driving a company vehicle from 9 to 5, it was easier to define what happened “at work.” The following are some questions to ask as more companies move to the virtual office:

1. What is considered a workplace injury when an employee works from home? If he is on a conference call and trips while walking down the stairs, is it compensable? What happens when an employee has an accident while talking with a client on the way to the grocery store? 
    
2. What are considered “working hours?” Service technicians are not the only ones expected to be on call 24/7. With mobile technology and work teams in different time zones, an employee’s work hours can extend around the clock. 
    
3. Some companies without offices gather employees for group meetings at hotels or conference centers. When does the “work day” begin and end? What activities or areas of the location are considered “the workplace?” Can an employee claim workman’s compensation when she’s hit on the head while surfing during a break between company meetings? 
    
4. Can an employee be denied workman’s compensation if an accident results from hazardous or unsafe conditions in his home that wouldn’t be tolerated in a conventional work environment?

The rise of the “office-less” company opens up possibilities and poses lots of questions. The insurance industry will face many challenges with the new Affordable Care Act. Is anyone paying attention to Workman’s Compensation? If you’re a company embracing the virtual office concept, these are questions worth asking your insurance provider.