Those who get their lunch from a snack bar are usually covered by accident insurance – even when working from home. (Photo: © Svetlana Kolpakova/123RF.com)
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The walk from the home office to lunch can be considered a workplace accident – ​​but not always. The Hessian State Social Court has ruled differently in two similar cases.
Anyone who goes out for lunch during their lunch break is generally covered by statutory accident insurance , even while working from home, according to Section 8 of the German Social Code, Book VII (SGB VII) . However, the legal question often arises: Is it actually a work-related accident ? The Hessian State Social Court assessed two comparable cases differently.
In the first case, a woman was working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn't have fixed days of the week but informed her colleagues when she was working from home. After checking in for her lunch break , she went to a snack bar to get her lunch. She fell awkwardly on the sidewalk and broke her upper arm.
In the second case, a programmer was working with a colleague on the latter's terrace that day, also as part of a remote work arrangement . After four and a half hours of work, he went to get lunch for both of them. On his way back, he twisted his ankle on the way to the terrace inside the colleague's house and tore his cruciate ligament.
Both the woman and the man applied to have their accidents recognized as workplace accidents and to be covered by statutory accident insurance . However, the insurance companies rejected both applications.
Operations management
Operations management
Operations management
The State Social Court clarified that an accident on the way to lunch can also be covered by insurance while working from home, provided two conditions are met: First, the journey must serve the purpose of maintaining one's ability to work , meaning it must be undertaken with a corresponding intention . Second, the journey must be work-related. This is the case if it takes place on company premises or begins and ends at the workplace because the job requires physical presence at the workplace.
The mere intake of food is not insured if it serves only to satisfy hunger or thirst.
The court classified the woman 's accident as a work-related accident covered by insurance . She had gone to the snack bar with the intention of maintaining her ability to work. She was also involved in the company's operations, as she had informed her colleagues that she was leaving and attended appointments both before and after her break . The court ruled that the fact that no fixed work-from-home days had been agreed upon was irrelevant, since working from home was a regular occurrence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the woman had notified the office in advance that she would be working from home that day.
The court assessed the man's accident differently . His route to the terrace was not an insured work route. While mobile work activities are generally insured, this particular route lacked both a discernible work-related purpose and integration into company processes: he had only descended the house's stairs because he wanted to eat on the terrace .
Furthermore, he was not sufficiently integrated into the work organization on the day of the accident , as he arranged both his breaks and working hours flexibly . In the court's opinion, the meal no longer served to maintain his ability to work, since only about one and a half hours of work remained.
State Social Court of Hesse, judgments of June 25, 2026, file numbers L 3 U 189/24 and L 3 U 176/25 ; not yet legally binding, appeals to the Federal Social Court are already underway.
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