If employees injure themselves while walking to the vending machine, it is an accident at work. The Hessian State Social Court decided that “traveling a distance to get food” is basically insured. The verdict was published on Tuesday (AZ: L 3 U 202/21).
An administrative employee from the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg who worked for a tax office had complained. The 57-year-old slipped on a wet floor when she wanted to get a coffee in the authority’s social room. She broke a lumbar vertebra in the process. The accident insurance company responsible did not want to recognize the injury as an accident at work and was right in the first instance. The reason given was that the insurance cover regularly ends when you step through the canteen door.
However, the 3rd Senate of the State Social Court followed the plaintiff: The social area clearly belongs to the area of responsibility of the employer. The court allowed an appeal.