Injuries that happen away from your regular job site can still fall under Illinois workers’ compensation law. However, whether you’re eligible depends on the nature of your activity when the injury occurred. The law focuses less on the location and more on whether the task served your employer’s interests.
Focus on work-related duties
To qualify for benefits, your off-site activity must be directly related to your job responsibilities. For instance, injuries sustained while making deliveries, attending off-site meetings, or traveling for business-related errands are typically covered. The determining factor is whether the employer directed or reasonably expected the employee to perform the task at that location. Activities of a personal nature, even if they happen during work hours, generally do not meet this standard.
Traveling employees may be covered
Illinois law recognizes that travel can be an essential function of certain jobs. Workers who travel as a part of their employment, such as sales representatives or delivery drivers, often remain eligible for compensation throughout their workday, even in off-site environments. That said, ordinary commuting usually falls outside the scope of coverage unless the employee is transporting work equipment or traveling between multiple work sites at the employer’s request.
Injuries at employer-sponsored events
If you’re injured at a training, seminar, or company-sponsored event, you may be eligible for compensation, especially if participation was mandatory or directly tied to your job. Courts often look at whether the event served the employer’s business interests. Social or recreational activities that are optional generally don’t qualify unless you were performing a work-related role at the time of the injury.
Your case must show that the injury occurred during the course of employment. Timely reporting, witness statements, and documentation of your duties are all useful. The more clearly you can link your injury to your job responsibilities, the stronger your claim will be.
