What Should You Do if You Were Involved in a Car Accident During Working Hours?

As a regular driver and a working individual, it’s crucial to understand legal concerns and implications surrounding the use of your vehicle during work hours and outside of official work shifts.It’s necessary because car accident during working hours are, unfortunately, a high probability, and the costs of recovering from a road accident can devastate you financially as well as emotionally. When it comes to driving during work hours, you must know when and what rights you hold for compensation from the employer in case of road accidents. Similarly, you must also be aware of the conditions when your employer does not owe you coverage for any damages caused by a vehicle accident on the roads.

In this article, you will learn about the legal implications on your employer if you run into a car accident during work hours.

What to Do at a Time of a Car Accident During Work Hours

Your course of action after you run into an accident on the road during work hours must be based on the following set legal rules:

Vicarious Liability

Vicarious liability is a legal tool that extends the employee’s liability to their employer when the employee runs into an accident while driving to fulfill work duties during work hours or outside of work. The critical factor is that the employer must be a beneficiary for whatever purpose the employee was driving.

Employers must be cautious about ensuring their employees’ safety.

Worker’s Compensation

Employees are entitled to compensation called ‘worker’s compensation’ from their employer in cases where they faced an injury or injured a third party while driving to complete work-related errands.

When Can You Claim Worker’s Compensation

Instances when you’re entitled to compensation are:

• When you’re out to run an errand for your boss or office-related work and get into a car accident during work hours and end up with injuries.
• When you’re out for work-related tasks or heading for an official factory visit and run into a car crash, injuring third parties, to settle the victim’s claims, you’re entitled to the worker’s compensation.
• When you’re using the company’s car but the company hasn’t elaborated on car accident policies, you may win yourself the compensation.

When Can You Not Claim Workers Compensation

Here are a few situations where you can’t claim worker’s compensation:

• While commuting to work. Employers don’t owe you compensation if an accident occurs while traveling from home to the office and vice versa.

However, exceptions apply when you’re commuting for work conferences or office events, picnics, and the employers ask you to use the personal vehicle and pay you for the commute time. An accident occurring, in this case, may entitle you to this compensation.

• When you’re traveling during work hours for personal errands like stopping for lunch at a café or if you are gone for a dental checkup. If you get into an accident in this situation, you’re not getting any compensation.

Choose Corradino & Papa, LLC For Car Accidents During Work Hours.

If you recently ran into an accident during office hours and are unable to afford injuries, let the experienced attorneys at Corradino and Papa, LLC, assist you in fighting for work compensation. Contact us today for a free consultation.