Commuting Accidents: Is Your Employer Liable if You Get Hurt on the Way to Work?

If an employee is coming from home to the office and meets with an accident, is it the liability of the employer or not? Please suggest.

Hi,

Coverage under the ESI Act

If the employee is covered under the ESI Act, accidents caused during commuting to work and back are considered work-related, and benefits are paid to the covered insured persons (IPs).

Utilizing Mediclaim Insurance

If the employer has provided a Mediclaim insurance facility, it can also be utilized for hospitalization expenses.

There is a mistaken notion that any accident caused while traveling to and from the workplace is covered under the EC Act and is the liability of the employer to compensate. The statutory provision is 'whether the accident arose out of and in the course of extension,' the notional extension theory applies for determining the issue during the course of employment, but whether the accident arose out of employment too has to be seen. So, was the employee at the accidental site in the capacity of being a company employee (i.e., it is not a public road where other people too are commuting)? In that background, the accident is to be seen and analyzed.