An employee who is injured while on a scheduled break from work in Kentucky is likely to be denied workers’ compensation benefits. But workers’ comp law is complicated. Your eligibility for benefits should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, we encourage you to contact one of our knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyers if you have sustained a workplace injury. We have recovered more than $300 million in workers’ compensation benefits for hardworking Kentuckians. We would like to assist you, too, if possible. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation assessment of your work injury claim. If there’s a path forward, we’ll fight for workers’ comp benefits for you.
Kentucky Court Rules on Break-Related Injuries
Kentucky courts have ruled that an employee hurt while on break isn’t entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. A 2014 Kentucky Supreme Court decision was based in part on Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which is considered the premier source for analysis of workers’ compensation law. It is used by state workers’ comp commissions across the country.
Andrea Schrecker, an employee of U.S. Bank Home Mortgage in Owensboro, Kentucky, was entitled to an unpaid daily lunch break. One day, she worked through lunch because a co-worker was absent. When she left for lunch later, she was hit by a car while crossing the street at a point between two intersections where there was no crosswalk, according to the Court.
Schrecker sustained several injuries and complained of symptoms related to a traumatic brain injury but was treated at the scene and returned to work. Eventually, she was terminated because, she said, she could no longer adequately perform her job duties following her injury.
U.S. Bank appealed two prior approvals of Schrecker’s workers’ comp claim to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The bank argued that Schrecker was not within the course and scope of her employment when she was injured because she wasn’t on the bank’s premises when injured, she had temporarily left her job, and she took an unreasonable risk by crossing the street between intersections.
In a 5-2 decision, the Court ruled that Schrecker was not within the course and scope of her employment when she was injured and, therefore, she wasn’t entitled to workers’ comp benefits.
Larson’s Actual and Incidental Job Duties and Workers’ Comp
In US Bank Home Mortgage v. Schrecker, 455 S.W.3d 382 (Ky. 2014), the Court’s majority quoted Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which says employment-related activities are divided into two groups:
- Operating acts, or direct performance of the precise tasks assigned to the employee
- Incidental acts, such as seeking personal comfort [lunch, bathroom breaks].
The Court said that according to Larson, the performance of job duties is always within the course of employment. However, incidental activities are not within the course of employment. “As to incidental acts and situations, including … personal comfort, … we find that a single test will also suffice: they are outside the course of employment if they are expressly or impliedly forbidden,” Larson says.
Adopting that argument, the majority of the Court held that Schrecker’s claim should be denied because she undertook a route to seek personal comfort [crossing between intersections] that exposed her to a hazard completely removed from normal going and coming activity and which was expressly prohibited by the Commonwealth and impliedly prohibited by U.S. Bank.
Going and Coming Workplace Injuries
The going-and-coming rule has been long established in Kentucky workers’ compensation law. The general rule is that, in the absence of special circumstances, an employee injured while going to or coming from work is not eligible for workers’ comp benefits. The theory for excluding workers’ compensation coverage to employees while they commute to work is that they are not performing any service for their employer, and the risk they are exposed to is the same as for any member of the general public.
Exceptions exist that an injury sustained while going and coming to work would be considered connected to work duties. They include the following:
- On-premises injury: Injuries that occur while on the employer’s property – the place of employment – are covered, regardless of whether the employee is on the way to work or leaving or on break. The employee’s presence there arises out of their employment.
- Company-directed travel: If the job requires an employee to travel, such as between company locations, between a company office and a client’s location, an accident that occurs en route should be covered.
- Injury while performing some service of benefit to the employer: An employee who met with a client and discussed business, read a work-related report, or discussed work activities with a supervisor while on break should be covered if injured during that break. Work-related discussions with peer co-workers during a break would be less likely to be considered part of the course of employment.
- Injury causally related to a work-connected event: An injury that occurred while attending an employer-sponsored event or activity, whether on or away from company premises, should be covered.
In U.S. Bank, the Court said cases involving injuries that occur on employee breaks must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
The factors to consider include:
- Whether the employee is paid during the break
- The length of the break
- The extent to which the employer limits the employee’s activities during the break
- How far from the employer’s premises the employee was when injured
- Whether the hazard encountered by the employee flowed from employment or was part of normal going and coming activities
- Whether the employer prohibited the employee’s activity.
Consult An Experienced Workers’ Comp Attorney in Kentucky
If you are employed in Kentucky, the workers’ compensation attorneys of Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer can review the circumstances of an injury you suffered during a work break and your eligibility to pursue workers’ compensation benefits. Since Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer was founded, our mission has been to stand up for Kentuckians like you who have been injured and need a trusted advocate to fight for their best interests. Let us help you demand the maximum workers’ comp benefit available to you under Kentucky law.
Our lawyers are known for having the Kentucky Courage to stand up to insurance companies and demand justice for our clients. Contact us to set up your FREE consultation and help you negotiate with your employer and get the full compensation you are entitled to.
