If you sustain an injury while working from home, you may still be able to qualify for Texas workers’ compensation benefits. The central question is whether the injury arose out of and occurred in the course and scope of your employment. Under Texas law, that generally means you were performing an activity related to your employer’s business and furthering your employer’s interests when you were injured.
The fact that the accident happened in your home rather than your employer’s office does not, by itself, decide whether the injury is work-related. What you were doing when the injury occurred matters. An injury that happens while you are performing an assigned job duty presents a different workers’ compensation question from an injury that happens while you have stepped away from work to handle a personal household task.
Texas private employers are also not required to carry workers’ compensation insurance in most circumstances. Before determining what benefits or legal process applies, an injured remote employee should determine whether their employer has Texas workers’ compensation coverage.
Can a Work-From-Home Injury Qualify for Workers’ Compensation in Texas?
Yes. A work-from-home injury can qualify for workers’ compensation if it meets the same basic requirement that applies to other Texas work injuries: it must arise out of and occur in the course and scope of employment. Texas Labor Code § 401.011 defines course and scope of employment as an activity that has to do with and originates in the employer’s work, business, trade, or profession and that is performed by an employee while furthering the employer’s affairs or business. The definition is not limited to injuries that happen at the employer’s physical workplace.
For a remote employee, this means the location of the accident is only part of the analysis. Suppose an employee is working from an approved home office and is injured while performing an assigned task or retrieving materials needed to complete that task. The fact that the employee was at home does not automatically take the injury outside the course and scope of employment. The circumstances would still need to establish the connection between the activity and the employee’s work.
The opposite is also true. Being clocked in or injured during normal working hours does not automatically make everything that happens at home a work injury. If the employee stops working to perform a personal activity that is unrelated to the employer’s business, an injury during that activity can raise a dispute over whether the employee was still acting in the course and scope of employment.
How Do You Determine Whether an Injury at Home Was Work-Related?
The analysis focuses on the activity the employee was performing when the injury occurred and its relationship to the employer’s business. Texas workers’ compensation law generally requires both a connection to the employer’s work and an activity that furthers the employer’s affairs or business. For example, an employee who falls while walking across a home office to retrieve a work file may have a different claim from an employee who falls while carrying laundry during the workday. Both accidents happen at home, and both may occur during normal working hours, but the purpose of the activity is different. The first activity is connected to the employee’s work, while the second is ordinarily a personal household activity.
Evidence can become particularly important because there may be no supervisor or coworker present to see a remote-work accident. Emails, messages, calendars, time records, phone or video meeting records, work assignments, and other electronic records can help establish what the employee was doing at the time. Photographs of the area where the injury occurred and medical records documenting how the injury happened can also become relevant if the insurance carrier disputes whether the injury was work-related. An insurance carrier can dispute whether an injury is compensable (meaning eligible for workers’ compensation benefits) if it believes there is not enough information to show that the employee’s work activities caused the injury or that the employee was acting in the course and scope of employment. For a remote employee, clearly documenting the work activity and the circumstances surrounding the accident can therefore be important.
What If You Were Taking a Break or Doing Something Personal When You Were Injured?
An injury during a break is not automatically covered or automatically excluded. The circumstances matter, including what the employee was doing, why the employee was doing it, and whether the activity remained sufficiently connected to the employment. Texas law contains specific exceptions that can prevent an injury from being compensable even when it occurs during the workday. For example, Texas Labor Code § 406.032 addresses injuries resulting from certain off-duty recreational, social, or athletic activities, horseplay, intoxication, intentional self-injury, and other specified circumstances.
Remote work can make the distinction between work and personal activity less obvious because both may occur in the same physical space. An employee may move between a home office, kitchen, living area, and other parts of the home throughout the day. The fact that an accident occurred in one of those areas does not resolve the issue by itself. The reason the employee was there and what the employee was doing at the time can be more important than the room in which the injury happened. For that reason, a workers’ compensation dispute should not be reduced to whether the employee was technically “at work” when the accident occurred. The relevant question is whether the activity that led to the injury had the required connection to the employment.
What Should You Do After Being Injured While Working From Home?
A remote employee should report a work-related injury to the employer even when no supervisor or coworker witnessed the accident. Under Texas Labor Code § 409.001(a), an injured employee generally must notify the employer of a work injury within 30 days of the date of the injury. For an occupational disease, the reporting period generally runs from the date the employee knew or should have known that the disease was related to the employment.
Reporting the injury to the employer and filing a workers’ compensation claim with the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) are separate requirements. An injured employee generally must file DWC Form-041, Employee’s Claim for Compensation for a Work-Related Injury or Occupational Disease, within one year of the date of injury, as required by Texas Labor Code § 409.003. For an occupational disease, the one-year period generally runs from the date the employee knew or should have known that the disease was related to the employment. An employee who misses one of these deadlines may still be able to proceed by showing good cause for the delay, and the one-year filing period does not begin to run if the employer or insurance carrier fails to timely file its own report of the injury. An employee should not assume that notifying a supervisor alone completes the DWC filing requirement.
The employee should also document the circumstances while they are still fresh. That may include recording the date and time of the injury, the work being performed, where the accident occurred, and who was notified. Relevant emails, messages, meeting records, photographs, and other information that helps establish the employee’s work activity should be preserved. Medical records should accurately describe how the injury occurred and the symptoms being treated. If the employee’s condition prevents work or limits the duties the employee can perform, medical documentation can also become relevant to the benefits available through the workers’ compensation system.
What Benefits Are Available for a Compensable Work-From-Home Injury?
If the employer has workers’ compensation coverage and the injury is compensable, Texas workers’ compensation can provide medical and income benefits. The benefits available depend on the nature of the injury and how it affects the employee’s ability to work. Medical benefits pay for reasonable and necessary medical care related to the compensable work injury. Depending on the injury, this may include treatment needed to diagnose, treat, and help the employee recover from the work-related condition.
Temporary income benefits, commonly called TIBs, may be available when a work-related injury causes an employee to lose some or all wages for more than seven days. Under Texas Labor Code § 408.103, TIBs generally equal 70% of the difference between the employee’s average weekly wage and the wages the employee is able to earn after the injury, subject to the statutory rules and benefit limits. For an employee earning less than $10 an hour, TIBs equal 75% of that difference for the first 26 weeks.
Other income benefits can apply when an injury results in lasting impairment or continued loss of earning ability. Impairment income benefits are based on an impairment rating assigned after the employee reaches maximum medical improvement. Supplemental income benefits have additional eligibility requirements, including an impairment rating of at least 15%, while lifetime income benefits are reserved for specific catastrophic injuries identified in Texas Labor Code § 408.161, such as total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes, loss of both hands or both feet, a spinal injury causing permanent paralysis, or certain severe burns. Not every injured employee qualifies for every type of income benefit. The type and duration of benefits depend on the medical condition, ability to work, impairment findings, and other statutory requirements.
What If the Insurance Carrier Says Your Injury Was Not Work-Related?
A denial by the insurance carrier does not necessarily end the workers’ compensation claim. If the carrier disputes whether a work-from-home injury occurred in the course and scope of employment, the dispute can be addressed through the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation dispute resolution process.
The employee should first gather information relevant to the disputed issue. In a remote-work case, that may include work records showing what assignment was being performed, communications with supervisors or coworkers, medical records, photographs, witness information, and electronic records establishing the employee’s activity around the time of the injury.
If the dispute cannot be resolved directly, a party may request a benefit review conference. A benefit review conference is an informal proceeding in which the parties meet with a DWC benefit review officer to identify the disputed issues, discuss the available information, and attempt to reach an agreement.
If the dispute is not resolved at the benefit review conference, it can proceed to a contested case hearing before a DWC administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ makes a decision based on the evidence admitted at the hearing. A party that disagrees with the decision of an ALJ may request review by the DWC Appeals Panel. When appeal of an ALJ decision is unsuccessful, judicial review in court may be available.
What If Your Employer Does Not Have Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance?
If your employer does not carry Texas workers’ compensation insurance, meaning your employer is a nonsubscriber, you do not pursue benefits through the ordinary Texas workers’ compensation system. Depending on the circumstances, you may instead be able to file a negligence lawsuit against the employer. Under Texas Labor Code § 406.033(d), an employee bringing such a claim must prove negligence by the employer or by an agent or employee acting within the general scope of employment.
The Labor Code also limits several defenses that a nonsubscribing employer could otherwise raise. Under section 406.033(a), the employer generally cannot defend the case by arguing that the injured employee was contributorily negligent, assumed the risk of injury, or was injured because of a fellow employee’s negligence. Under § 406.033(c), the statute preserves other defenses and specifically allows the employer to raise defenses it might have based on an employee’s intentional act or intoxication.
Whether an employer had workers’ compensation coverage on the date of injury therefore affects more than where a claim is filed. It can determine whether the employee proceeds through the workers’ compensation system or must consider a different legal route to make a claim.
Talk With a Texas Workers’ Compensation Attorney About a Work-From-Home Injury
Work-from-home injuries can create disputes over whether the employee was performing job duties or engaged in a personal activity when the injury occurred. The appropriate process to follow depends on whether the employer had Texas workers’ compensation coverage at the time.
Bailey & Galyen can review the circumstances of a remote-work injury, the employer’s coverage, a workers’ compensation denial, and the procedures that may apply. Contact Bailey & Galyen to discuss a work-from-home injury with a Texas workers’ compensation attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does it matter whether my employer formally approved my home workspace?
No single approval decides the outcome. The same course and scope of employment test under Texas Labor Code § 401.011(12) applies whether or not the employer designated a specific home office. What matters is whether the activity that caused the injury was connected to the employer’s business and performed in furtherance of it.
That said, if the employer never authorized the employee to work from home, or had no knowledge that work was being performed there, it can be harder to establish that connection. Work schedules, assignments, and communications with the employer become the key evidence either way, since they show whether the employer knew about and directed the remote work arrangement.
2. Can a repetitive injury from my home office setup, like carpal tunnel syndrome, qualify for workers’ compensation?
Yes. Texas Labor Code § 401.011(36) defines a repetitive trauma injury as damage to the body from repetitious, physically traumatic activities that arise out of and occur in the course and scope of employment, and this can include conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome from prolonged computer use. The injury must still be shown to result from the employee’s work activities rather than from personal use of a home computer or other equipment.
Because this type of injury develops over time rather than from a single accident, the reporting period works differently than it does for a one-time injury. The 30-day notice period and the one-year DWC filing period generally run from the date the employee knew or should have known that the condition was related to the job, not from the date symptoms first appeared.
3. What if I’m injured while driving from home to a client meeting or the office for work?
It depends on the purpose of the trip. Texas Labor Code § 401.011(12)(A) generally excludes ordinary transportation to and from a place of employment from the course and scope of employment, an exclusion commonly called the “coming and going” rule. An exception applies when the employer furnishes or pays for the transportation, controls it, or directs the employee to travel from one place to another as part of the job, sometimes called the special mission exception.
For a remote employee whose home is the regular workplace, a trip the employer directs, such as traveling to a client site or a required in-office meeting, may fall within that exception. A purely personal errand from home generally would not, even if it happens during working hours.
Hablamos español en nuestra oficina.
Bailey & Galyen – Solving Your Legal Puzzle®
Español 
English