Can I Get Workers’ Compensation On A Business Trip?

Millions of employees are required to travel for business every year, and they aren’t immune to injury while they are abroad. If you are hurt while training employees at another facility, it stands to reason that you would be able to collect workers’ compensation, but oftentimes injuries that occur while traveling for work aren’t this straightforward. In today’s blog, we shine a little light on if you’re eligible and how you can collect workers’ compensation if you are injured while traveling for business.

Injured While On Business

We’d love to be able to give you precise, straightforward answers, but workers’ compensation is already a complex process, and that only gets compounded if you are injured while traveling for business. With that in mind, here are some general rules to keep in mind about collecting workers’ compensation when traveling for business.

In general, your commute to work at a fixed location is not compensable by workers’ compensation. If you are traveling to work from your home or vice versa and you get in a car accident, you’re not going to be able to collect workers’ compensation for your injuries, even if you try to make the argument that the only reason you were involved in the traffic accident was because your work obligations require you to travel that stretch of road at that very moment. Injuries during a standard commute are not compensable, but injuries that occur when traveling between job sites likely would be compensable because you’re still on the clock and performing work duties while you’re driving.

That brings us to the topic of travel on a larger scale. You probably won’t earn compensation if you are injured en-route to the airport, but if you are injured while you’re in another city on a business trip, you may be eligible for compensation. You certainly would be able to collect compensation if you were performing work duties at the time of the injury. Even if it was in a non-standard capacity, if it was work related, it is likely compensable.

For example, if you flew into Atlanta for a work trip and were taking a client out to dinner or a baseball game in hopes of earning their business, you can file for workers’ compensation if you slip in the restaurant or fall down a flight of stairs at the ballgame. Even though you may not be “on the clock” so to speak, you are performing work duties or obligations, and thus you would be eligible for compensation.

Injured In A Non-Work Capacity While Traveling For Work

It becomes a lot more complex if you are injured on a business trip in a non-work capacity. For example, let’s say you were in New York for business and decided to catch a show on your off day. If you slip on the stairs, you can expect that your employer’s insurance company will put up a fight if you file for workers’ compensation. They will argue that you were injured on personal time, but the only reason you were in New York and at that show in the first place was because your work required you to travel to that city, so a good workers’ compensation lawyer will be able to put forth a strong case in your favor. Needless to say, these claims are evaluated and approved on a case-by-case basis.

So if you are injured on a business trip, consider reaching out to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer like Dean Margolis. We’ve successfully argued travel-related cases in the past, and we know how to make a convincing argument that increases your likelihood of a fair payout. If you want to learn more about your options, or if you just want to see if you may be eligible for travel-related workers’ compensation benefits, reach out to Dean and the team at Margolis Law Office today at (952) 230-2700.