When are employees covered by Workers’ Compensation?
In California, Workers’ Compensation coverage generally begins the first minute an employee is on the job and continues any time they are officially on the job performing a service for the company as an employee or official volunteer. Workers’ Compensation does not provide coverage for injuries that occur during the normal commute to or from work; that occur during an unpaid mealtime; that result from recreational activities; that result from substance abuse or intoxication; or that result from starting a physical fight or engaging in horseplay.
Company Sponsored Events
If attendance is mandatory, the event is held during business hours, and the employer derives a benefit from it beyond improved employee health and morale, then the employer will probably have to pay up for any injuries that may arise. To prevent such extracurricular activities from boosting your workers’ compensation costs, try implementing these strategies.
-
Make attendance optional. If you don’t, you run the risk of making it a condition of employment and increasing your liability if someone gets hurt.
-
Ask for volunteers to help with set-up and serving. Just like attendance, if set-up and serving are mandatory than liability increases. A “special job task” (one that is “concurrent” to the job even though it’s off-hours) may also increase your WC liability.
- Ban contact sports. Choose games and activities, which don’t significantly increase the risk of employee injury. And let employees organize the games and provide their own equipment. The more out of the loop you are, the less likely the company will be held liable for any resulting injuries.
- Limit alcohol consumption. Or better yet, ban it altogether. If you want to allow some drinking, try limiting employees by using drink tickets or curtailing the amount of time in which alcohol is served.
