Many people are considered to be at work even if they perform work-related activities off the clock or away from their place of employment. You and other New Jersey residents may wonder if workers’ compensation applies for an accident that occurs before or after hours or offsite.
As FindLaw explains, there are many instances in which workers’ compensation covers a work-related injury or illness that occurred away from your job or while you are off the clock. To qualify, you would have had to be performing a task related to your job or on a business-related trip. For example, workers’ compensation could apply to the following situations:
- You contracted food poisoning that was traced to a restaurant where you met for lunch with potential business partners.
- You slipped and fell on a wet floor at a trade show that your company sent you to.
- Your employer asked you to go to the post office to pick up a package for him on your way home from work, and you were injured in a car accident.
Additionally, workers’ compensation covers the coming-and-going rule, which pertains to accidents that occur on workplace premises before or after you go to work. If you trip on the curb walking into your office building or get struck by a vehicle after work while walking to your car, the coming-and-going rule should apply. Workers’ compensation does not cover accidents on your own time driving to and from work or on your lunch break.
Since workers’ compensation law can be complex, this information should not replace the advice of a lawyer.