America’s workplace increasingly involves a virtual office. Many workers spend the bulk of their days working “on” the Internet. The injuries suffered by those so-called virtual workers are similar to workplace injuries suffered by workers in the traditional workplace. However, the Internet has broadened the definition of the “workplace,” and thus broadened the definition of the workplace for purposes of litigating workplace injuries and changing the nature of evidence of such injuries.
Virtual office transactions employ technology such as computers, cellphones and other Internet access devices to allow employees to work from many locations, and allow workers to participate in transactions that are remote from their traditional office locations. Virtual office meetings can be conducted via teleconferencing and video conferencing, and documents can be transmitted electronically. Traditional workers increasingly engage in virtual worker transactions, as their use of the Internet increases.
