Employees will not necessarily be entitled to
compensation for injuries arising from private activities they
engage in while working flexibly from home.
It is becoming increasingly more common for employers to
facilitate flexible work arrangements for their employees, so that
an employee's "place of work" is not restricted to a
fixed physical location where an employer carries on business in
the traditional sense. The case of Demasi and Comcare
(Compensation) [2016] AATA 644 highlights that this does not
necessarily mean that employees are entitled to compensation for
private acts engaged in while working flexibly from home.
The facts in the Demasi case
The case involved an employee of the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC) who was a producer and presenter
for the television program Catalyst. The employee's job
required her to work not only in the ABC offices and on location,
but also allowed her to work flexibly from home.
