A co-worker’s recent on-the-clock accident made you realize that you do not know much about your Missouri employer’s worker’s compensation program. For instance, are there accidents that do not qualify for compensation?
Insurance Business explores the matter. Understand when you may have to seek injury compensation elsewhere other than your employer.
Hijinks
Injuries resulting from employees engaging in horseplay do not qualify for workers’ comp. Because workers sustained injuries through actions not related to work, employers do not bear responsibility for covering the resulting medical bills.
That said, uninvolved employees who become injured by other workers engaging in horseplay qualify for compensation. For instance, if Christina counted inventory while Todd and Mark fooled around and harmed Christina while running through the office, Christina’s injuries qualify for compensation while Todd and Mark’s do not.
“Coming and going” rule
Employees traveling to and from work fall outside of worker’s comp. Workers traveling for business, workers running an errand for a manager and those without a specific business location receive protection from their employer. This rule extends to workers walking from a vehicle into or out of the office right before or right after work. If an employee sustains an injury immediately before or after a shift, worker’s comp covers the resulting hospital bills.
Working from home
Employees who work from home can file a compensation claim if they sustain harm, but only during business hours. That said, an employer may cover an injury falling outside of business hours. One of the biggest complications of this particular situation is that companies cannot prove an employee working from home who become injured at 9 P.M. was not working when the injury happened.