Generally, if an employee is injured while driving to or from work, the injury is not covered under Illinois Workers' Compensation law. However, exceptions have been recognized in incidents where the employee's job requires travel, such as if the employee is a traveling salesman, and being on the road may be seen as part of the employee's job responsibilities.
In a recent case, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission recognized further circumstances where an injury incurred while driving may fall under the law. The employee in that case was injured in a car accident while driving a company car home from work. The employer had furnished the worker with the car for work purposes, and it was generally not used for personal purposes.
The Commission determined that the employee's use of the company car exclusively for work purposes was for the benefit of the employer. Because the employer was seeing a benefit from the employee's use of the company car while at home, the employee's home became a "second base" of operations for the employer. Therefore, the worker was not outside the scope of his employment when the accident occurred during his drive from the office to this "second base", and the Commission awarded the injured employee Workers' Compensation benefits.
This case is just the most recent development in a line of cases addressing the "second base" idea. The key to these cases has been that the worker is providing some benefit for his or her employer at home - whether it may be maintaining a dealership car to respond to customer calls or working from home to prepare materials for work - and has thus established his home as a "second base" of operations. When that has been established, the drive between the traditional workplace and home may be seen to be within the scope of employment, and injuries occurring on the drive may be compensable under Illinois Workers' Compensation law.
If you think you may have a similar claim, contact an Illinois Workers' Compensation Attorney today.
