Employee Injury While Commuting

Employees are not covered by workers’ compensation while “going and coming” to and from work unless specific circumstances apply.¹

Courts have ruled that the employment relationship is suspended during the commute period. As a result, injuries that occur when an employee is engaged in an ordinary commute during regular hours, off-duty travel or travel off of the employer’s premises do not fall under the “course of employment” according to the Workers’ Compensation Act.

One exception is where the employment creates a “special risk.”² The special risk exception applies in the following circumstances: