Understanding the ‘Going and Coming’ rule

On Behalf of | Sep 23, 2020 | Workers' compensation

Workers’ compensation should cover any losses related to your work-related injury, which involves lost wages from missing work and medical bills. However, understanding what constitutes a “work-related injury” is paramount.

A key element in this is the so-called “Going and Coming” rule. According to this rule, workers’ compensation is not applied in situations where a worker sustains an injury commuting to or from work, but there are some exceptions as per FindLaw.

Why is the commute excluded from workers’ compensation?

It is possible to argue that commuting to and from work is a work-related activity and thus workers’ compensation should cover sustaining an injury on the commute . However, any time that an individual has tried to argue this point, the courts have not agreed. Overall, employers are not liable for injuries sustained while driving or otherwise traveling to and from work.

What are some exceptions?

In some situations, if you were commuting using a company car at the time you sustained an injury and not a private car, workers compensation may cover your injuries.If your job requires you to travel frequently between several job sites, workers’ compensation covers this. Another exception is if you sustained an injury while on a business trip. Even if you sustained the injury when you were not actively involved in business, workers’ compensation will still cover it since the reason why you were traveling is due to work.

Workers’ compensation also covers “special missions.” An example of a special mission is your boss asking you to pick up coffee for her in the morning. If you sustain an injury while completing this task, workers’ compensation will apply.