Many people are now working from home for the first time in their careers. Just because employees are at home doesn’t mean they won’t be injured. Most people working from home are exclusively computer based employees, but not all. The Ohio legislature is considering new workers compensation legislation making it more difficult for people to file workers compensation claims for injuries sustained while working from home. The legislation seems to erode the previously accepted “personal comfort doctrine” which made injuries sustained while at work, but engaging in activities like going to the bathroom, heating up food in the break room, retrieving personal items from their vehicle, etc. As currently written, the legislation, HB 447 would require injured employees to show that their injury-causing activity was for the exclusive benefit of the employer, or caused by a “special hazard” of employment. We at Clements, Taylor, Butkovich & Cohen LPA, your workers compensation attorneys, will watch this bill go through the legislative process.