Accident Insurance Federal Social Court provides company celebrations more under protection

Accident insurance protection also at departmental celebrations of a company
Kassel (jur). Company celebrations improve the working atmosphere and are usually under the protection of the statutory accident insurance. According to a judgment of the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel on Tuesday, 5 July 2016, accident protection must in principle also be granted if employees of a single department carry out a celebration "in agreement" with the company or service management (Ref .: B 2 U 19/14 R). It was then not the presence of the boss required, a mitfeiernder department or team leaders rich, so the Kassel judge. They moved away from their previous case law.

A social security specialist had sued the German pension insurance Hesse. Their office in Kassel is subdivided with 230 employees in several subject areas. In 2008, the head of the department agreed with the area managers that each department could hold its own Christmas party.

Occupational safety and health protection. Image: DOC RABE Media - fotolia

The date must be agreed with the office management but the Christmas party should not start before 12.00 clock. Employees received a time credit of ten percent of the weekly working time for their participation.

The applicant's department organized its own Christmas party on October 9, 2010, which included a hike. The woman slipped and suffered a bruise on her right elbow and wrist. She wanted the accident to have been recognized as an accident at work.

The responsible administrative professional association rejected this. Accident protection exists for corporate community events. However, this was not a joint event of the Kassel office, but rather just a Christmas party of the individual department. Neither the management had invited all employees to the celebration, nor had they performed this as a separate event. Also, no one from the service management attended the Christmas party. However, this is a prerequisite for accident insurance.

The BSG has now clarified that for the insurance coverage of company parties this must be done "in agreement" with the head of the department or the management. Such an "agreement" is enough for the employer to authorize the individual departments or teams to organize the celebrations themselves and to lay down further requirements, such as the beginning or even the issuing of time credits.

But it is not necessary that the boss himself is present at every department party, the 2nd BSG Senate. It would be enough for the responsible department or team leader to attend the Christmas party and for the celebration to be open to all employees of the respective team. In this way too, "the solidarity and the sense of community of employees in the respective subject area or team would be promoted".

These conditions existed here, according to the BSG. The actual number of revelers is not important.

Already on 26 June 2014, the BSG Accident Council had decided that company celebrations with colleagues must always be initiated by the supervisor or the boss (Az .: B 2 U 7/13 R, JurAgentur message from the day of the judgment). On the other hand, if a manager only wishes "a lot of fun" and "good luck," this is not enough to start with an official business event. The Kassel judges thus rejected the complaint of a job center employee who had carried out a Christmas party with her department.