Generally speaking, your Pennsylvania employer isn’t liable for accidents that occur during your commute to or from work. This is referred to as the coming-and-going rule, which states that what happens outside of work hours has nothing to do with your company. However, there are exceptions to this rule depending on the exact purpose of your travel.
If you travel often
Let’s say that you work as a traveling salesperson or as a field nurse. In such a scenario, you would likely travel to various towns, cities or states for work, and your travel would be considered an integral part of your job. Therefore, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if you were hurt while traveling to a sales call or another job site.
You may also be entitled to benefits if you were hurt while performing errands for your employer while on your way home from the office. It’s worth noting that you typically can’t pursue benefits if you’re hurt while running a personal errand on the way back to the office from running a business errand.
Getting hurt on a business trip
It may also be possible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits if you are hurt while away at a conference or an important business meeting. This is often true even if you got hurt while playing basketball at the gym prior to the meeting or while walking to your hotel room hours after the conference ended.
Workers’ compensation benefits typically cover medical bills and lost wages related to your injury. Copies of plane tickets, toll receipts or other records may help you prove that you were traveling to a work event as opposed to engaging in personal activities at the time of an accident.
