Am I Considered A Traveling Employee Which Would Allow Me To Argue I Am Entitled To Workers’ Compensation Benefits When I Was Injured While Traveling For Work?

This issue was addressed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Bache v. TIC-Gulf Coast (2019).

In this case the injured employee lived in Florida and was hired by an employer located in Colorado to work on a building site in North Carolina, which was estimated to take 1.5 to 2 years to complete the building project. The injured employee was paid an hourly rate for the work performed and received a $70/day per diem to cover living expenses while working in North Carolina, since the injured employee lived in Florida. After getting off work one day the injured employee and a co-worker went out to dinner at a restaurant and on the way home the injured employee was involved in a motor vehicle accident resulting in a significant injury.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals noted that generally when an employee’s work requires travel away from the employee’s home this travel is within the course of the employment and an injury during such travel may give rise to a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The injured employee argued that he was compensated for his travel to and from work because the per diem he was paid would help cover these expenses and that his employment required him to travel to restaurants to eat because he was working away from his residence in Florida.

However, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the injured employee was not required to travel for work outside of the building site he was working on, he had to travel to and from the building site like any other employee and the per diem the injured employee was being paid could be used for any expenses, not just travel expenses. The North Carolina Court of Appeals further ruled that the injured employee’s going out to dinner after work was not part of his employment or work duties. For these reasons, the injured employee was denied workers’ compensation benefits.

Should you have any questions about this or any other issues involving your work-related injury, please feel free to reach out to one of the Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardinal Law Partners for a free consultation by calling (833) 444-4127.