Workers' Compensation is complicated. Injuries that you think did not arise from your employment, may actually be covered by Workers' Compensation. This is especially true for traveling employees. Which injuries are due compensation when sustained while traveling for work can be unclear. A rule arising out of a recent case may help shed light on the subject. The arbitrator in a case involving an injured bus driver "noted that injuries sustained by an employee while in the performance of reasonably necessary acts of personal comfort may be found to have occurred in the course of employment, as they are incidental to the employment."
In that case, a bus driver arrived at a school after her second route, and was going to eat food she had brought from home in the cafeteria while waiting to being her third route. After checking into the office and using the restroom, the bus driver headed toward the cafeteria when she fell and sustained injuries. The commission found that since the bus driver was where she was supposed to be and doing what she was supposed to be doing at the time of the injury and did not expose herself to a risk outside the reasonable exercise of her duties, her injuries were compensable.
The rule used by the Arbitrator and Commission in this case is specifically related to traveling employees. That rule is that "injuries to a traveling employee occur in the course of employment if the employee is required to travel and is involved in the performance of reasonable services for the employer at an appropriate time and place." So, if you travel for work, many of your injuries, even if not directly related to your work may still be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. To be sure, contact your Illinois Work Injury Attorney.
