This element addresses when and where the injury happened and what the employee was doing. It generally covers the work period at the workplace while performing job duties or activities incidental to them.
Recognized extensions include the personal comfort doctrine covering breaks and meals, and travel required by the job.
Alternative Names:
COE, Course and Scope
Why it Matters?
The contested cases sit at the edges: injuries during breaks, in parking lots, at employer-sponsored events, and while traveling. Each state draws these lines differently, and the same facts produce different results across borders. For multi-state employers the practical consequence is that compensability determinations cannot be standardized nationally, which affects both claims handling and reserve setting.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Are injuries during breaks compensable?
What about parking lot injuries?
