Work events are often mandatory and may be part of training, team building, or networking. When accidents happen at these kinds of events, it may be the company’s responsibility to pay for your injuries as though they happened during normal work tasks, but not in every case.
Workers’ Compensation is supposed to cover all work-related injuries, and injuries at a work event may qualify. As long as attending the event was part of your work and was serving your employer’s interests, it should be covered under Workers’ Compensation. However, whether the event was mandatory or not and whether you were intoxicated or not might change coverage. You may also be able to sue dangerous venues and other at-fault parties.
Call the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review.
Requirements for Workers’ Compensation Coverage
It is important to understand the basic requirements for coverage under Workers’ Compensation, then, we can apply them to work events.
Worker Was an Employee
You are only covered if you are an employee. This does not cover independent contractors or gig workers, though the status is based on your actual work tasks and duties, not whether you get a 1099 or whether your employer says you are a contractor.
Injury was Work-Related
Injuries are only covered if they were work-related. This usually means either of these two things:
- The injury occurred at your workplace because of dangerous work conditions (e.g., noise, toxic fumes, missing handrails).
- The injury occurred during the performance of work tasks.
Injury was Disabling
Workers’ Comp pays medical benefits for any work-related injuries, but it only pays lost wages when your injury disables you for at least 7 days.
How Injuries at Work Events Are Covered
If you are at a work event as part of your work tasks, then you are performing work tasks just by being there in many cases. This means that injuries that happen during the event are part of your work and should be covered.
However, there are some factors that play into this, making it important to have a Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp lawyer argue your case.
Mandatory vs. Optional Events
If the event you attended was mandatory, it is more likely to be seen as part of your work tasks. You are serving your employer’s interests by being there and have no alternative.
If the event is optional, the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) or the courts may have to weigh whether you were there serving your employer’s interests or your own. If you were serving your employer at the time of the injury, the injury can be considered work-related.
Events During vs. After Work Hours
If the event is during work hours, it is more likely you are required to be there. The fact that it is during work hours emphasizes that it was mandatory and you had no choice but to be there.
Events after work hours can still qualify as “work-related,” especially if they are mandatory. The fact that the event was outside of normal work hours is not enough, by itself, to stop Workers’ Comp coverage.
Who Runs/Sponsors the Event
If the event is run or sponsored by your employer, it is more likely to be work-related. If it is a neutral event your employer took you to, it might not have a work-related purpose.
E.g., if your employer pays to take everyone to dinner as a team-building event, it may be work-related, but coworkers going to a bar together after work, on your own dime, might not be.
Purpose of the Event
If the event was set for some clear, work-related purpose, it is more likely to be considered work-related, even if it isn’t mandatory or during work hours. For example, these purposes often make events more work-related:
- Trainings
- Team-building events
- Conferences
- Networking events (i.e., to find customers, clients, vendors, and suppliers; not events for job-seekers).
If the event is purely social, it is less likely to be work-related.
Can You Get Workers’ Comp if You Were Injured While Drunk at a Work Event?
Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act prevents coverage for injuries caused by the worker’s intoxication. This often comes up at work events if they have a more social or party atmosphere to them.
Cause of Injury
A worker’s intoxication only blocks coverage if it was the cause of the injury. If the accident happened for another reason, such as your own negligence or someone else’s negligence, then it was not caused by the intoxication and should still be covered.
Other Grounds to Sue
If the event was not work-related, then you can potentially sue your employer for injuries on their premises. Since it isn’t work-related, a lawsuit against your employer isn’t blocked by Workers’ Compensation like it normally would be for work-related accidents.
Additionally, if the event was hosted at a venue or used caterers/bartenders hired for the event, that venue or the caterers may be responsible for overserving you and causing your injuries.
FAQs for Workers’ Comp for Injuries at a Work Event
Are You “Working” When You’re at a Work Event?
This will usually be one of the biggest questions in your case, because Workers’ Comp should cover the injuries if you were “working” and might not cover them if you were not “working.”
If you had to be there because you were running the event or attendance was mandatory, it is more likely that you are considered “working” at the event.
Who Decides Whether Workers’ Comp Applies?
First, your employer decides whether to cover the accident or not when you file your notice of injury within 21 days of the accident. Then, if they reject your claim, you can take it before a Workers’ Comp Judge to decide.
If the WCJ disagrees that the event was work-related, we can appeal it to the Workers’ Comp Appeal Board, then the Commonwealth Court, then the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Various caselaw already exists on this question, but your case might involve a unique situation the courts want to address to set new precedents.
Can You File a Lawsuit?
Whether it turns out the event was work-related or not, you can potentially sue venues for dangerous conditions on their premises, injuries from being overserved by bartenders, and injuries resulting from negligence security.
If your employer hosted the event, it is more likely that it was work-related. If it was not work-related but happened because of something your employer did, you may be able to sue them like you would anyone else.
Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
For a free evaluation of your potential case, call (267) 651-7945 to speak with Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers.
