On Or Off the Clock?
When are you technically on and off the job, and is there any grey area to that? A recent case that went before the New York state court of appeals had to define the difference, and came up with a surprising ruling. A taxi driver was in his vehicle on a lunch break when a stranded motorist asked for help jump starting a dead battery. The battery exploded in the process, leaving the taxi driver blind. When filing a claim for workers compensation, a judge ruled that the injury received was on personal time seeing how the driver was on a break from his work duties. End of story, right? Well, not so after an appeal to the state.
To be compensable under New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, an injury must have arisen both out of and in the course of employment. Here, the employer argued that the injury wasn’t compensable because the taxi driver was on a meal break at the time of the accident. The court agreed that injuries that occur during meal breaks taken off employer’s premises are generally not compensable.
However, the court noted that the general rule doesn’t apply in situations in which the nature of the job dictates the time and place of the meal, and the employee is still considered to be on the job at the time the break occurs.
The employer argued that their drivers were given explicit instructions NOT to do any repair work on their own vehicles, but the court countered with the fact that it did not apply to the drivers helping out a fellow stranded motorist. And the most interesting ruling of all?
Furthermore, when an employee in the course of employment is temporarily involved in an activity that benefits the employer, the activity falls within the scope of employment. Here, because the cab was clearly marked with the employer’s name, the assistance created a good-will benefit to the employer. The court affirmed the Board’s decision.
It just goes to show that there is a very fine line between what could be considered on and off the clock when it comes to employers, and that it never hurts to seek outside council should you feel like you have been injured surrounding your employment.
