“During The Course Of Employment” - What It Means And What It Doesn’t Mean

There are a couple of factors that must be present in order for an injured individual to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Besides suffering an injury that requires medical care, this injury also needs to arise from the course of your employment. You need to have been injured on the job while performing work duties, otherwise known as “during the course of employment.”

And while that may seem like a relatively simple definition on the surface, you’ll find that little in the world of workers’ compensation is ever as simple or straightforward as it appears. Below, we dive deeper into what it means to be injured during the course of your employment, and what type of actions or circumstances do not meet this definition.

Injured During The Course Of Employment

Injured during the course of your employment has a few different definitions, and you’ll see why this needs to be the case after a few examples. You are considered to be injured during the course of your employment if:

You were injured while performing work duties – Perhaps the simplest definition on the list. If you were performing your work duties and suffered an injury, like your hand got caught in the machine press at your workstation, you would be eligible for workers’ compensation.

You were injured at a place where you were expected to be working – Let’s say you were at the construction site and were on your way to the bathroom when some equipment fell off scaffolding and struck you on the shoulder, injuring you. Although you were not directly performing work duties, you were at the job site at a time when you were expected to be working and performing work-related tasks, and as such you would be compensated for this type of injury.

You were performing a work-related task for the benefit of your employer – If you were dropping off a contract after-hours to a client and were involved in a car accident, you would likely be covered by workers’ compensation, even though the injury occurred outside your standard working hours because you were performing a routine task that benefited the company. The same could be said if you were involved in a car accident while picking up lunch that your manager bought for the team.

You were on the premises – Once you’re on the jobsite, you can typically collect workers’ compensation for injuries. If you slip on a wet office floor after arriving for work, you should be eligible for injury compensation, even if you aren’t officially punched in. This can be a bit trickier to win, so it’s imperative that you have a professional in your corner to help you win your award.

It’s important to remember that workers’ compensation is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, so the above is far from a comprehensive list. And while you’ll want to discuss your case with a workers’ compensation attorney, here are some instances where your injuries are typically not considered to arise directly from the course of your employment.

On your commute
On a lunch break
While under the influence of alcohol or drugs
When you intentionally cause injuries

If there is any question at all as to whether your injuries arose out of the course of your employment, you need to connect with a workers’ compensation lawyer. We’ve recently heard challenges from employers that remote workers’ should not be covered by workers’ compensation if they are injured in their home, and as you can imagine, it’s a complex topic. An employee in the office would be covered if they were injured while walking to get a cup of coffee, so why shouldn’t the same logic apply to a remote worker who is getting coffee from their kitchen? What is and what isn’t arising directly out of the “course of employment” will always be a hot topic for insurance providers who want to protect their bottom line, even if it comes at the expense of an employee, so make sure you work with a lawyer who can prove your injuries clearly arose from the course of your employment.

For more information, or for help with a different injury claim issue, reach out to the team at Margolis Law Firm today at (952) 230-2700.