1. Are employees entitled to claim under Employees’ Compensation Cover (EC) if he/she has contracted Covid 19?
The Covid 19 virus is currently not an occupational disease specified in the ECO. However, if an employee is infected with the Covid 19 virus as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of employment as stipulated in the ECO, in principle the employee may be entitled to the compensation. However, the employee has to prove that he/ she contracted the disease by accident and occurred during the course of work/ employment. And the final assessment by Labour Department may be required whether there was “an accident” contributing to contraction of the Covid 19 virus.
2. Can an employee claim under EC if contracting Covid 19 when travelling abroad?
The Geographical Area noted on the policy schedule is usually stated coverage applicable within Hong Kong SAR. In most cases we would be liable for work related injuries for incidental and irregular business travels. If employees’ overseas work is more substantial, the insured should notify QBE of the job functions and request to extend to cover employees overseas.
Moreover, the Insured should always keep in mind of their duties to fulfil that under QBE’s EC Policy, General Conditions (b) Precautions require that all reasonable precautionary actions have to be taken by the Insured, and in addition the Insured should comply with all relevant statuary requirements and obligations issued or promulgated by the Authorities/ Government (see below)
Given that World Health Organization has already declared the outbreak of Covid 19 virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concerned and Hong Kong Government has appealed to employers to adopt flexible working arrangements and travel guidelines were also insured, Covid 19 virus would be considered a foreseeable risk that the Insured should safe guard the employees’ health and safety.
For example, if an employer sends a worker to the infected area like Hubei province after the disease is known in the area we would doubt if the employer has fulfilled General Conditions (b)
3. Does EC policy cover employee’s injury while working from home?
In normal EC policy, insured’s address stated in the EC policy would be regarded as the workplace covered. However, after the outbreak of Covid 19 virus, according to Hong Kong government’s directions, many insureds inquire staff working from home as an employer would have duties to ensure safety and health of all their employees under (Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (OSHO) and Common Law. Hence home has become the workplace for employees working from home, then if an employee has suffered an injury while working from home, in principle he/she is entitled to claim under ECO.
However, there always exists difficulties in proving work injury during working from home in terms of locations and time of injury. We would expect the Insured shall have a formulated plan or emails communication specifying the precautionary actions and working from home arrangements taken during the outbreak period. Actions would include but not limited to the following: -
- It is important to remind our Insured to keep proper record of staff attendance, their duties and to establish a clear guideline for work from home policy during this disease outbreak period and HR and company should constantly remind the employees of work safety, giving instructions on the importance of personal hygiene and adherence to the company business contingency guidelines
- We highly recommend our Insured to follow HK government travel warnings/ notices an avoid business travels to China and other affected countries, details to follow the official website: https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/102742.html
- Employees are reminded that non work related injuries would not be covered under the EC policy, such as cooking at lunchtime and shopping outside etc. For example, the following policy extension may not be applicable for EC coverage while working from home.
- Catering Facilities Clause
- Meal and Lunch Time Extension
- To & From Extension
- Any special arrangement by employer for its employees in terms of works scope and changes of locations that may significantly affect the risk exposures should be reported to the Insurer for this period as soon as possible
4. What would be the necessary claim documents to prepare in case of any EC claims reported during working from home period?
The following documents are essential for QBE to review and assess the claim scenario.
- Occupation and normal duty of the injured employee;
- Work from home instruction from the Insured (including detailed arrangement such as period, duration, duties & etc.);
- Injured employee to prepare a written declaration/ statement/ report on how and when the accident occurred;
- Medical documents, i.e. medical receipt, report & etc., if available;
- Log sheet and/or Attendance records.