Tennessee Workers Compensation Claims: What does “Course and Scope of Employment” mean?
Generally, when an employee is injured at work their injuries are covered by the Tennessee workers compensation laws. More specifically, for an injury to be covered by Workers Comp it must occur by an “accident arising out of and in the course and scope of employment.”
The “course and scope of employment” requirement of Tennessee workers comp can actually be broken into two separate individual requirements.
- The employee must be within the time and space boundaries of the employment at the time he or she was injured, and
- The employee must be engaged in an activity which has some reasonable relationship to the employment.
In most cases, when an employee is injured at his or her workplace, the facts are clear and there is no disagreement about workers compensation coverage. There are, however, some circumstances that will make a difference. As with most things in Tennessee law, the facts of each case are important. Consider the following general rules and exceptions below:
As a general rule, an employee is not considered to be in the “course and scope of employment” while they travel to or from the “employment premises.” This means that injuries that are incurred in the employer’s parking lot, or in a car accident on the way to work, are not covered. On the other hand, when an employee is required to travel for his or her employer, the “course and scope of employment” requirement is generally satisfied.
Many times, when looking at the facts of a specific case and whether Tennessee workers comp coverage applies, the biggest consideration is simply whether the employer was benefitting from the activity that the employee was performing at the time of the injury. Injuries that occur when an employee is satisfying his or her own personal interests will not generally be covered, such as running a personal errand on a lunch break.
These few examples should illustrate that even though the issue of workers comp coverage is usually clear, the specific facts of every case must always be considered. If you have questions about an on the job injury, contact the Memphis, Tennessee workers’ compensation attorneys at Bailey & Greer. Call us at 901-680-9777.
Since graduating magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Memphis School of Law, Thomas has helped make a difference in the lives of victims of serious personal injury, wrongful death, and professional negligence. Thomas has extensive trial experience in both state and federal court. Among other victories in the courtroom, Thomas obtained several impressive jury verdicts and settlements
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