Understanding the Going and Coming Rule and Exceptions
Are you entitled to workers' compensation benefits if you are injured during your commute to and/or from work? To answer that question, you need to understand the California Workers' Compensation Going and Coming Rule, and its exceptions. The rule plainly states that an injury during a commute would not be a covered workers' compensation injury claim. However, the law has evolved over the years, allowing for exceptions to this rule.
Can I get compensated if I am injured driving to or from work?
In most cases, the answer is no. In California, generally, if you sustain injuries while commuting to or from work they are not covered under Workers' Compensation due to the "Coming and Going Rule." This rule considers such injuries as occurring outside the scope of employment, as the commute is a personal choice and not a work-related duty.
However, there are exceptions to this rule!
Exceptions to the Going and Coming Rule
One reason to consult an experienced workers’ compensation attorney if you are unsure about your situation is that, like many areas of law, California’s Going and Coming rule has multiple exceptions to the general rule. If an exception applies, then the injured worker will receive workers’ compensation benefits. The analysis in these cases is very fact-specific. Here are some examples of exceptions to the rule:
Special Errand Exception
If you are at work and your employer asks you to leave work to run an errand that benefits your employer, or if you are asked to run an errand on behalf of your employer on the way to or from work, and you are injured, this may be an exception to the rule because the employer directly benefits from your actions preceding the injury.
Multiple Job Sites Exception
Likewise, if your job requires that you visit several job sites each day to perform your duties using your vehicle and you are injured while driving out in the field to and from job sites, this may be an exception to the rule.
On Call Exception
Similarly, if you use an employer-owned vehicle to commute to and from work or if you are “on call” with that vehicle or your own, and injury occurs, this may be an exception to the rule.Premises Line Rule
Another example of one of the exceptions to the general rule is referred to as the “premises line rule.” This rule attempts to define when the employment begins and ends based on the definition of the employer’s “premise.” If you are injured on the employer’s premises, even if your shift has not started, then there will be an exception to the rule. Further, the line may be extended based on an employer’s instruction, for example, an off-site parking lot has been considered the employer's premise allowing for an exception to the rule.
Jones v. The Regents of the University of California
One more recent example of the court broadly defining the scope of the employer’s “premises,” is explained in the 2023 case of Jones v. The Regents of the University of California. In that case, an employee of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) left her on-campus office and began riding her bike home. In this case, the employee fell off the bike while she was still on university grounds and was injured, and this was considered an exception to the rule based on the location of the injury on the premises of the employer.
Knowledge is Power
As you can see, many factors and various scenarios could affect whether an injury qualifies as an exception to the Going and Coming rule. If you’ve been injured in an accident or injury of this type, the best action is to seek a lawyer knowledgeable in California Workers’ Compensation Law. The legal experts at GEK LAW are available to advise you.
