An accident that occurs while you are actively engaged in the performance of your duties during working hours will be regarded as having occurred in the course of your employment. Even if the work being done at the time of the accident was not within the scope of the specific job for which you were hired, as long as it was being performed pursuant to the orders of your superior, the claim would be compensable. Additionally, if you were following orders or were performing your duties, it is immaterial that the accident occurred at some place distant from the employer's premises.
Ordinarily, if you leave your employer's premises and take your lunch meal at home or at some other place of your own choosing, you will be considered outside the course of your employment from the time you leave work, until the time that you return. Accidents that occur on the premises during meal hours are generally regarded as occurring in the course of employment.
With few exceptions, an accident that occurs while you are going to or returning from work is not considered to have occurred in the course of employment and benefits will be denied. If an accident happens on the employer's premises while you are proceeding to and from work, that will be considered a compensable claim.
Similarly, a journey home will still be considered in the course of employment if you are charged with some duty which you must perform en route or even immediately after you have reached home. Another exception exists generally with reference to accidents occurring at certain unusually hazardous places which, although not on the employer's property, are immediately adjacent thereto. Finally, an accident that happens while you are being transported to or from work by your employer is compensable if the transportation is furnished as an incident of the employment.
