If you are injured on the job, you may be able to file a workers compensation claim. However, there are times when you may be injured during the scope of your employment, but not while doing your actual job. In these cases, as long as the injury occurred during the scope of your employment, you can file a claim and receive the compensation you are entitled to. So how do you know what the scope of employment is? Read on to learn more:
What Does Scope of Employment Mean?
Scope of employment looks at where the employee was and what they were doing at the time the injury occurred. If the injury occurred at work, while you were doing your job, you were clearly within the scope of your employment. But other times, it can be a gray area. As a general rule of thumb, if you were doing something to benefit your employer and that they asked you to do, it will likely be covered. If it occurred away from work and did not involve anything to do with your job duties or function, it may not be covered.
What Are Some Examples of Being Within the Scope of Employment?
There are many examples of being within the scope of employment. Some examples include:
- Being Involved in a Car Crash While on a Business Trip
If not for the business trip, you would not have been in the area you were in and may not have been driving around. As such, this is typically covered, as long as you were not driving drunk or too far outside of the business trip vicinity. It does not matter if you are in a company car, rental car or your own personal car, as long as you were traveling for work at the time it occurred.
- Picking Up Lunch for the Office At Your Bosses Request
While you may not typically have to pick up breakfast or lunch for the office, if your boss asked you to swing by the pizza shop and pick up a to go order or grab donuts for a morning meeting, and you are injured while doing so, this is considered during the scope of your employment.
- Falling While Meeting With Clients At Their Home or Office
If you meet with people at various locations, such as their home, office or restaurants, as part of your job, and you are injured while doing so, you may file a workers compensation claim. The injury does not have to occur at your work site or be the employer's fault in order for you to file.
What If Your Employer Does Not Agree That the Injury Was During the Scope of Your Employment?
If your employer does not agree that the injury was during the scope of your employment, the insurance company may delay or deny your case, when this occurs, it is always wise to hire a workers compensation attorney to help you.
Determining if you were acting in the scope of your employment when you were injured can be challenging. If you are unsure if you can file a workers compensation case, a workers compensation attorney can help you. Contact one today for a free consultation and to learn more about the scope of employment and how it may affect your claim.
Contact a law office like Rizzi Law Group for more information and assistance.
