Many traffic accidents take place either in the morning or afternoon rush hours, when most people are commuting to and from their employment. Those who have a bare understanding of the concept of workers’ compensation may think that injuries that occur in these crashes are covered by workers’ compensation, since they took place while a worker was on the way to work, or coming from work. However, injuries caused by most traffic accidents do not qualify as being covered by workers’ compensation.
For an injury to be covered by workers’ compensation, the injury must somehow be connected to a person’s work responsibilities and be suffered while performing a task related to work. Most of these injuries are those that take place at a workplace, but could be in a vehicle if the injured person works primarily in a vehicle. Therefore, vehicle accidents involving bus or truck drivers could be considered to be covered by workers’ compensation, as driving a truck or a bus is part of the driver’s job.
Additionally, it is also possible that a person could get injured on a work-related trip or at a work-sponsored event. These injuries might be compensable, depending on the circumstances of the case. However, injuries suffered while engaging in horseplay, even while on company-owned grounds, may not be considered to be covered by workers’ compensation and neither will injuries that resulted from someone neglecting to follow workplace rules.
When a person is injured during the course of employment, the last thing they want to do is get into a legal dispute with their employee as to whether their injury is covered or not. However, employers and insurance companies often give injured employees the runaround to avoid legal responsibility. It is important to remember that filing a workers’ compensation claim is an injured employee’s right.