Can you get workers’ compensation if injured outside of work?
If you are injured at your place of employment, you will likely find yourself in position to file a workers’ compensation claim.
However, things get tricky if you were not on-site at the time of the injury. In this case, whether or not you receive workers’ compensation benefits depends on the laws in your state and the details surrounding your accident.
Generally speaking, if you are injured within the scope of employment, you will qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. An example of this would be a salesperson who is injured when traveling for work. Although the person is not at his or her primary place of employment, he or she was still injured while working.
The problem with this is the fact that many employers argue that a person was not injured when completing a work activity. For instance, they could state that a person was off-site for work purposes but deviated from the task for a personal reason.
With all this in mind, it can be a challenge to receive workers’ compensation benefits if you were injured outside of work. Even so, it’s not impossible. Furthermore, if you were injured while completing a work assignment, you should fight for your rights.
It may take more documentation and work on your behalf, but if you’re entitled to workers’ compensation you don’t want to give up and simply deal with your injury on your own.
In the event that your initial workers’ compensation claim is denied, it’s time to learn why, to gather more evidence and to file an appeal within the appropriate time frame.
Source: FindLaw, “Workers’ Comp FAQ,” accessed March 03, 2017