Accident While Working From Home: When the Lunch Break Is Covered
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Two employees are injured at lunchtime on their way to get food – one working from home, one working remotely at another location. The Higher Social Court of Hesse (Hessisches Landessozialgericht) recognised only one of the two accidents as a work accident (judgments of 28 April 2026, case no. L 3 U 189/24, and of 19 May 2026, case no. L 3 U 176/25).
1. The cases: two falls during the lunch break
In the first case, a full-time employee worked from home during the Covid pandemic because her employer wanted it that way. On the pavement on her way to a snack bar she fell and suffered a broken upper arm.
In the second case, an employee with an agreed six-hour working day was free to choose his place of work. He worked on a colleague’s terrace, picked up lunch for both of them at a snack bar and then went over on his ankle on the stairs inside his colleague’s house.
Both statutory accident insurers (Berufsgenossenschaften) refused to recognise a work accident. The court corrected this in the first case only.
2. The test: a twofold link to the employer’s operations
The court makes cover for the lunch route subject to two conditions. First, the walk must serve the purpose of staying fit for work and continuing to work afterwards – not merely satisfying hunger. Second, the route must arise precisely because the person has to be present at their place of work.
Anyone working outside the company’s premises additionally needs an arrangement with the employer under which the home or another location becomes the place of work. The line between the protected sphere and the world outside runs at the front door of the house.
3. The distinction: integration tipped the scales
The claimant in the first case had a structured working day. The fact that no fixed home-office weekdays had been agreed did not matter – during the pandemic, working from home was the norm and exactly what the employer wanted. She was firmly integrated into the employer’s work organisation.
The claimant in the second case lacked precisely this integration. He was free to decide on time, place and breaks. In the court’s view, the walk down the stairs served his private wish to eat on the terrace. With only an hour and a half of working time left, the meal could no longer serve to maintain his capacity to work.
4. The outlook: appeals pending before the Federal Social Court
Neither decision is final yet. Both cases are now pending before the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht, case nos. B 2 U 8/26 R and B 2 U 9/26 R).
Your accident insurer has rejected your claim?
Whether an accident while working from home is recognised as a work accident depends on details of the daily routine that are hard to reconstruct after the event.
If you are unsure how your case or your home-office policy should be assessed, I offer you a short, free initial assessment. In that call, we will clarify how your situation is to be assessed and which next steps make sense.
