Can I Collect Workers’ Compensation Benefits If I’m Injured On the Way To Or From Work?

Generally, injuries sustained going to and from work are not compensable as a workers’ compensation injury.  However, there are a few exceptions to this general rule. The following is a list of injuries that may be compensable under workers’ compensation.

First, if the injury occurred on the premises of the employer as the employee is arriving or leaving work, the injury may be compensable. A common example would be a person slipping on an icy spot as they step onto the employer’s parking lot as they arrive for work.

Next, if the employee is performing a “special errand” for the benefit of the employer.  For example, the employer may ask the employee to stop by a paper goods store to pick up a case of copy paper on his way home after the employee has “clocked out,” and the employee is injured in an accident before they get to the store, but after they leave the employer’s premises, the injury will probably be compensable.

Another example is when the employee leaves their home, but instead of going directly to work, the employee must go by and see a customer of the employer.  If an injury occurs driving directly to visit the customer, the injury is usually compensable.  In the alternative, if the employee is a salesperson and in route to visit a customer and the employee decides to stop by a bar and have a few drinks and falls and injures himself in the bar, this injury is usually not compensable. This is commonly known as a “frolic and detour”.

A final example of a compensable injury is when an employer is responsible for carrying the employee to and from work as part of the employment contract.  For example, the employer has agreed to pick up construction workers at their home and carry them to the construction site.  Along the way to the construction site, the employee is injured in an automobile accident, this injury is usually compensable.

The workers’ compensation rules surrounding injuries that occur going to or from work are complicated; you should speak with a workers’ compensation attorney regarding the specifics of your situation to determine whether you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim due to your injuries.