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Will My Employer be Responsible for Injuries Sustained on My Lunch Break?
In order for workers’ comp to cover your injury, several requirements must be met. One of these requirements is that the accident must occur in the “course of employment.” If a worker is at his or her place of employment doing his or her job at the time of injury, the worker is clearly in the course of employment.
However, there are accidents that take place in less clear circumstances. In these cases, one must look further into the law to determine whether the accident will be covered by workers’ comp.
What is “Course of Employment”?Whether certain conduct takes place in the “course of employment” has been the subject of a significant amount of litigation in California and across the country. In California, activity that is not part of the worker’s job description can still be part of the course of employment.
The central requirement under these circumstances is that the injuring activity is incidental to employment. For example, workers who travel as part of their work are usually covered by workers’ comp for the travel period. However, the injury may not be covered if the worker makes a substantial deviation from the route required by the job and agreed upon with the employer.
In addition, accidents in parking lots owned by the employer or taking place while the worker is on the premises for a rest break also tend to be covered by workers’ comp.
Lunchtime may or may not be CoveredLunch breaks taken on the premises of the employment will likely be covered by workers’ comp. Lunch breaks taken off-site typically will not be covered unless you are acting in furtherance of your employer or your employer has some aspect of control over you or your environment.
Contact a California Workers’ Comp Law FirmThe only way to find out if workers’ comp will cover your accident is to seek professional legal counsel who can examine the unique facts of your case. As you can see from this discussion of lunch break injuries, certain facts and circumstances could make or break your case.
Workers’ comp is a highly technical area of law. There are also many gray areas. Injured workers should rely on an attorney who understands the workers’ comp scheme and who can make compelling legal arguments on your behalf. Call the skilled San Jose workers’ comp attorney at 408-289-1417 or toll free at 866-433-6797.
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