Does A Worker Have To Be Injured At Their Physical Place Of Employment To Qualify For Workers’ Compensation Benefits?

For an injury to be compensable under the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act, it must occur “during the course of employment.” The geographic location of the accident is less significant than whether the employee was performing work to benefit the employer. The accident need not occur on the employer’s property for it to be covered by workers’ compensation. For example, a sales position may require frequent travel, and if an employee is injured while visiting a customer, the resulting injuries would generally be deemed compensable.

Conversely, accidents occurring while an employee is commuting to or from work typically fall outside the scope of the Workers’ Compensation Act. This exception in known as the “going and coming” rule. If an employee is involved in a motor vehicle accident on their way to work, it will not be covered as a work injury unless the employee was carpooling with a co-worker. This raises the question: when does an employee actually “arrive” at the job site? Is it upon entering the employer’s sprawling corporate park, parking the car, stepping into the building’s elevator, or sitting at their desk?

Previously, the answer depended on whether the employer owned the property where the accident occurred. However, in 2022, New Jersey law was amended to clarify this issue:

“Employment shall also be deemed to commence, if an employer provides or designates a parking area for use by an employee, when an employee arrives at the parking area prior to reporting for work and shall terminate when an employee leaves the parking area at the end of a work period; provided that, if the site of the parking area is separate from the place of employment, an employee shall be deemed to be in the course of employment while the employee travels directly from the parking area to the place of employment prior to reporting for work and while the employee travels directly from the place of employment to the parking area at the end of a work period.”

If an employer directs an employee to park in an off-site location, any accident occurring while the employee is traveling between the parking area and the workplace would also be covered under workers’ compensation.