Will your workers compensation insurance offer coverage for the injuries that your employees sustain while riding to work?
While riding a bike to work is a great way to save money and reduce the amount of harmful greenhouse gases that you produce, it does come with certain risks. If an employee injures themselves while riding to work, you may be wondering if your workers compensation insurance is meant to cover this incident. Here’s what you need to know about the role of your workers comp coverage when it comes to commuting injuries.
Commuting Injuries
When it comes down to it, your workers compensation insurance is not designed to cover the injuries that occur during an employee’s work commute. This is because work commutes are not considered a part of an employee’s job functions. However, your employees may be able to file a claim is they suffered injuries while traveling in between offices. Additionally, the injured employee can also make a claim against the individual who caused the accident. This means that an injured employee can collect workers comp and receive a settlement from the person liable for the accident. However, in this case, the employee must pay workers comp back from their settlement.
Injuries That Occur While Travelling for Work
If your employee is using a bike to complete errands or their job functions, then any injuries that they sustain will be covered by your workers compensation insurance. In this instance, employees will have coverage regardless if they are operating a car, bike, or walking when the incident occurs. So, anytime an employee is injured while carrying out professional duties, they will have coverage under your workers compensation insurance.
Exceptions and Complications
In recent years, courts have made exceptions to the workers compensation laws that state that commuter injuries will not be covered. These cases have become very fact specific; if an employee can show a reasonable connection between their injuries and their job, then they may be awarded workers comp benefits. The main takeaway here is that business owners need to encourage worker safety at all times.
This is what you need to know about the role of workers compensation insurance in commuter injuries. Do you have additional questions regarding your business’s insurance? If so, then contact the experts at PMC Insurance Group. We are ready to get you the coverage that you need today.
