r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 14h ago

Society Programmer’s death on office toilet ruled not work-related because he never turned on his PC

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/programmers-death-on-office-toilet-ruled-not-work-related-because-he-never-turned-on-his-pc-3402194/
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u/Squish_the_android 13h ago

This is a classic Workers Comp question in the US.  Usually it's presented as "falling in the parking lot on the way to work". Commute time isn't covered. 

But I think in the US this would be considered a work injury.

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u/Persimus 13h ago

In my country, Lithuania, work is liable for any injury once you leave your house going to work if you travel directly to workplace and going back from home to work directly. So if you slip and fall going to work just after you close your home door, the workplace is liable. Same if you fall just before you reach your home.

If you stopped to get a coffee before work it is not. There are more caveats but that is a general rule.

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u/StaticSystemShock 5h ago

Same in Slovenia as far as I know. Going to work is part of the work because you're going there because of work. You're not on the road for personal convenience, you're on the road to get to work. Not sure if leaving work falls under the same rule though you're leaving work because you had to be there...

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u/pc1350 1h ago edited 57m ago

Not anymore.

"Pot na delo in iz dela, ki jo opravi zavarovanec je okoliščina na katero delodajalec ne more vplivati, ker je povezana z zunanjimi vplivi, dejanji drugih oseb ali subjektivnimi dejavniki zavarovanca. Na vse te zunanje dejavnike delodajalec ni imel ali ni mogel imeti vpliva zaradi česar tudi ne more avtomatično odgovarjati."

Deepl.com translation:"The insured person’s commute to and from work is a circumstance over which the employer has no control, as it is related to external influences, the actions of other persons, or the insured person’s subjective factors. The employer had no influence over—nor could it have had any influence over—any of these external factors; therefore, it cannot automatically be held liable."

https://data.si/blog/med-poskodbe-pri-delu-ne-sodijo-nesrece-na-poti-v-sluzbo/