Traveling to Work and Workers’ Compensation

As an employee, your focus on the job goes far beyond the hours when you are in your work environment. You think about your responsibilities from the time that you start getting ready in the morning and you rehash the day’s skirmishes hours past the time that you leave. But is your employer’s responsibility to you as all-consuming as your focus on them is? Not necessarily. A good example is the issue of traveling to work and workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance policy that your employer provides to pay for any injury or illness that you suffer while on the job – but there are only a few situations where your company’s insurance will cover you if you are injured while traveling to or from work. Here is some basic information on traveling to work and workers’ compensation that may answer some of your initial questions. If you have been in an accident or suffered some kind of injury while traveling to work, the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys at Vanasse Law can help you with your specific questions and situation.

In most situations, workers’ compensation does not cover injuries that an employee suffers while on the way to or from work. Though an employee may think of their commuting time as being part of their job, from a legal and insurance perspective it is not. There are, however, certain scenarios that may entitle a worker who is injured while traveling to work to file a workers’ compensation claim. These include

• Employees whose job responsibilities entail them being on the road on a constant basis. This can include sales professionals and traveling nurses for whom travel is an integral part of their responsibilities.
• Employees whose job responsibilities require that they report to work when called, or on an “on-call” basis. This can include physicians or health care professionals and first responders. Employees that fall into this category are generally considered to be working from the moment that they are called to report in.
• Employees that are traveling for business are covered by workers’ compensation when they are on their way to or from their business destination, and are often covered while at that destination even if they are not engaged in a recreational activity while away.
• Employees that are asked to run a business or work errand while on the way to or from work. This exception also applies to employees that are asked to run a work errand in the middle of the work day.

When it comes to being injured while on the way to or from work, every situation is unique and requires analysis by an experienced and knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorney. The attorneys at the Lancaster law firm of Vanasse Law have an extensive record of helping those who have been injured on the job to understand their rights and get the compensation that they deserve. Call us today to set up an appointment to discuss your case.