Although Minnesota residents might feel that their daily commute to and from work counts as part of their job, workers’ compensation policies consider it personal time. This is often referred to as the “going and coming rule”, and accidents during a commute will not qualify as work-related. Exceptions to this rule exist, and they could allow a worker to access benefits even if the injury happens away from the normal job location.
People whose jobs require travel enjoy coverage while on duty. Occupations like pilot, bus driver, trucker or police officer qualify for benefits even when the people are not at the physical place of employment. They typically do not use their personal vehicles to perform work duties, but other workers hurt in their personal vehicles are generally covered if they are commuting between different job sites through the course of their work day. For example, a landscaper will drive to multiple properties to perform work during a single shift.
All of the time that people are away on overnight business trips meets the definition of time spent at work. An injury that occurs while attending a conference could qualify as a work injury. Another scenario that enables an injured employee to apply for benefits is known as the special mission. A special mission event occurs when a manager sends someone to do something, like buy coffee.
Under this rule, people who are deemed to be at work when they are injured, even if they aren’t at an actual job site, might be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. However, it is fairly likely that this type of a claim might meet with more scrutiny than if an accident happened at the workplace, so legal representation might be advisable at an early stage.