Occasional work on holiday and an accident at work?
Vacation time is time spent not working, at least for the employer who granted the leave. In practice, it cannot be ruled out that the employer will not formally recall the employee from leave, but will instruct the employee to perform a specific or specific employee activities. What if an accident occurs during such occasional work?
Every employee is entitled to annual, paid, uninterrupted leave. The purpose of vacation leave is regeneration and rest, which is necessary not only in the context of the quantity and quality of work performed, but also the safety of its implementation.During the leave, the employee has, of course, the right to choose whether to completely break away from all professional duties or only not to work for the employer who granted the leave. There is nothing stopping an employee from working for another employer or under a civil law contract during the leave.
It is not possible for an employee to remain on leave and work for the employer who granted the leave at the same time. If the employer wants the employee to work instead of on leave, he or she should formally recall the employee from leave. Of course, recalling an employee from leave is only possible if there are code reasons that did not exist when the employee started the leave, otherwise the employee should not be allowed to go on leave, but the leave should be postponed to a later time.
Theory, theory and practice regarding the implementation of the ban on entrusting work during holiday leave vary. Employees are often on call during their leave and are obliged to check e-mail and respond to correspondence. But what if an accident occurs during such even sporadic situations?
If the employee proves that the incident occurred in connection with:
- carrying out the employer’s instructions regarding, for example, checking e-mail,
- the need to respond to electronic correspondence
then there is a high chance that the accident will have to be classified as an accident at work. This will be regardless of the fact that the employee was formally on leave and should not work.
If an accident occurs while performing, even short-term, employee activities during leave and the connection between the accident and the work performed is demonstrated, the event will qualify as an accident at work, regardless of the fact that the employee was formally on leave.
Reporting an accident while on vacation does not mean that the employer should ignore the report. Regardless of whether the report is made directly by the injured party or a close person with whom the employee was on vacation. The issue of post-accident proceedings in a situation where the incident occurred many kilometers from the workplace, or even on another continent, is a completely different story.
Can an employee be obliged not to report accidents while on vacation? Of course, yes, provided that they have no connection with the work performed. If an employee drowns while bathing in the sea, reporting the accident with the expectation that the employer will initiate post-accident proceedings will be pointless. However, if an employee is electrocuted while operating a company laptop, which the employee may only operate for business purposes, such a report should most likely initiate the post-accident procedure.
Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.
