Worker's Compensation: Can You Get Benefits After Being Hurt On Vacation?
Worker's compensation are benefits for workers who become injured while performing job-related duties. This includes on- and off-site. Can benefits be obtained if you are injured while on a vacation? It just depends on the circumstances surrounding the travel and the injury itself. Read on to learn more.
The Injuries Must Be Related to Your Job
In order to be eligible for benefits, you must have suffered an injury that was in some form or fashion work-related. As a general rule, job-related injuries are sustained at your primary place of employment, such as the office or warehouse. However, injuries do not have to occur on-site in order to be related to the job. In fact, injuries that are sustained while in a company vehicle or even a personal vehicle while performing an errand for work may be considered eligible. In some cases, depending on the exact circumstances of the case, injuries that you sustain at a company-sponsored event – think Christmas party – may be considered job-related.
Worker's Comp for Travel Injuries
If you're on a personal vacation, either by yourself, with your family or with your friends, and you get injured so badly that it prevents you from working, you are probably not going to be eligible for worker's compensation benefits. The same is true if you're simply on the road traveling to and from work.
However, there may be hope if you're injured while on a vacation for work. The laws will vary from state to state, but employees who are traveling for business purposes rather than leisure purposes and suffer an injury while performing work-related duties will likely be considered eligible. These injuries could include food poisoning during meals, injuries sustained during a slip and fall at the hotel and injuries sustained at the business event or meeting.
One of the most questionable areas with injuries during vacation, even if it is business-related, will be if you suffer an injury while engaging in activities that are not related to work. This includes going sightseeing, various secondary travel away from the business hotel or meeting site, engaging in illegal activities outlined by your employer, etc. In these cases, it will be in your best interest to gather all of the facts surrounding your situation and schedule a consultation with a worker's compensation attorney who can review the facts and provide guidance on how, if at all, to move forward with a claim.
If you have any questions regarding filing a worker's compensation claim or whether or not your injury is eligible for benefits, contact a worker's comp lawyer at an office like Erickson Law Office for assistance in these and related matters.
