Long Beach Office:
444 W. Ocean Blvd.,
Suite 400
Long Beach
California  90802
(562) 432-8421

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What Happens if I Get Hurt
On My Way to Work?

... or on my way home for that matter.
 
It depends.

That's the kind of answer you'd expect from a lawyer, but it's true.  California Workers' Compensation law generally holds that if a person is injured while going or coming from work, such injuries are not covered by your employer.  This rule is called, appropriately enough, the "going and coming rule."

It makes sense, actually.  Your employer has no control over the route you take, the vehicle you drive, how well it is maintained, how far away from work you have chosen to live, and literally hundreds of other variables which affect your safety.  On the other hand, your employer does for the most part control the work place, the equipment you use, your co-workers, and establish and enforce safety rules.  Those risks that are unavoidable or unpredictable can be made somewhat predictable by statistical averages maintained by insurance company actuaries, who compute the odds so that an insurance premium can be set.

It doesn't work that way if you are in law enforcement or fire protection.  Those odds cannot be accurately set because the risk of catastrophic injury is there.  Safety rules don't mean that much when lives are at stake and danger comes with the territory.  While it usually isn't fair to hold an employer responsible for what happens to an employee while going or coming from work, there are exceptions.

If a motor officer is injured while on the way home after shift completion and is still in uniform, on the department's bike that is garaged at home, there is no question.  The employer derives a benefit from having their equipment stored at the officer's home.  In another case, an officer was called to duty on a day off.  The injury sustained by this officer on the way to the station was held to be covered.

Would an officer assigned to pick up an extradited prisoner be covered if the plane crashed?  Sure!  What if the injury took place on the way to the airport in the officers' personal car?  The "special errand rule" would cover the officer not only as to all phases of travel but to all aspects of the trip reasonably necessary to the sustenance, comfort, and safety of the employee.

So during the evening before picking up the prisoner, our officer is at the local greasy spoon and winds up at the ER with a blazing gall bladder from having eaten their "Chili Supreme Special" with bacon bits and raw onions.  Would that be covered?  We think so, and we might run with it.

As you can see, there are hundreds of exceptions to the "going and coming" rule.  Each case turns on its own facts.  When in doubt, check it out.