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Compensation for Work Injury - Connection between Injury and Employment

Most employees who are injured at work do not need to worry about the technicalities of the workers' compensation system because their claim is approved. When a claim is denied an employee may quickly learn the language of workers' compensation laws. An employee soon learns that in order to claim workers' compensation an individual must be an employee and the injury must arise out of in the course of employment. This may seem simple enough, but these terms do not have common usage definitions within the workers' compensation framework, they have legal meaning.

The word employee, for example, may be defined by the employer, by a workers' compensation statute or by the courts. There are different tests to determine if a person is an employee for the purposes of compensation. The existence of a contract and the amount of control over the worker are only some of the factors that might be considered.

Unfortunately, there is no sure definition of the phrases arising out of and in the course of employment. It can be especially difficult to understand how they are different from each other. This is why the courts, despite making clear that these are two different criteria, say that the two factors are so intertwined that they must be considered together. Courts have also said that meeting only one of the two criteria is not enough.

The way that a court considers the question of whether these criteria are satisfied is to consider all the facts and circumstances of the case and, based on a totality of the circumstances, come to a conclusion. It is not enough to satisfy one of two criteria, but if one element is weak and the other is strong then the strength of one may make up for the weakness of the other. Courts generally find that an injury that arises out of employment almost necessarily occurs in the course of employment.

To make the issue as simple as possible, some states' courts have found that an injury arises out of and in the course of employment if

it occurs within the period of employment
at a place where the employee may reasonably be
while he or she is reasonably fulfilling duties of employment, or engaging something incidental to it

An injury is compensable if it occurs as a circumstance or incident to employment. A compensable injury is one that results from the work itself or the stresses, tension, or associations of the working environment.

Sometimes, there is a clear connection between the injury and the employment. If there is a direct and positive causal connection between the employment and the injury then the injury will be found to arise out of and in the course of employment. It is not necessary, however, that the work be the direct cause of the injury. If there is a rational connection between the injury and the work, and the injury occurs while the employee is engaged in his or her duties of employment, then a connection may be shown. Employment need not be the direct cause of the injury but it must be at least a contributing cause.

When an employee does something while working that they know they should not do and it results in an injury, it does not necessarily mean that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment. It may seem like common-sense that if an employee does something that they are not authorized to do they were not acting within the course of employment, but that is not always the case. Minor deviations may be expected. If the employee acts outside the scope of his or her authority or acts outside his or her line of duty, then an injury may still be considered to arise out of employment if the action is found to be reasonably related to the service that the employee was employed to render, if it is done in the good faith and furthers the employer's business.

Courts frequently apply a liberal standard when considering whether the injury arose out of an in the course of employment. A court should not make the matter a technical one, but rather, consider all the circumstances as well as the plain meaning of the terms. Courts sometimes favor a finding that the incident did arise out of, and in the course of, through a basic presumption in favor of allowing benefits. Any reasonable doubt about the matter is often resolved in favor of the employee.

Did an injury arise out of and in the course of employment?

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Did an injury arise out of and in the course of employment?

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DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.

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