What Do You Think?
In most cases, only injuries that happen during, or just before or after, an employee’s work hours are compensable. But what if an employee shows up really early and gets injured? A case involving a truck driver who consistently came to work at the crack of dawn addresses the topic, while serving as a cautionary tale for employers who don’t strictly enforce time policies
The employer’s official policy was for employees to arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before their shift. The driver’s shift started at 6am. However, he regularly arrived between 5:00 and 5:40.
The HR manager said the driver was never reprimanded for or discouraged from clocking in early. She explained that “it didn’t raise any bells or whistles in payroll” because the claimant was never paid for any time before his shift started.
One day, the driver arrived at 5:11 and entered the building. There, he performed a required safety check. Then, for his own convenience, he moved his truck to the front parking lot. At 5:24, on his way back to punch in and hear his daily safety briefing, he was injured crossing the street. The street was mainly for employees and customers.
The company argued the injury didn’t occur in the course of employment because driver wasn’t on the clock and was not authorized to work at the time he was hurt.
The Workers’ Compensation Act provides coverage to an employee for injuries that arise out of and in the course and scope of his employment. The “in the course of” requirement focuses on the time and place relationship between the injury and employment.
Generally, an accident occurs in the course of employment when the employee sustains an injury while actively performing his duties during work hours, either on the employer’s premises or at other places where employment activities take the employee.
Was driver in the course and scope of employment when he was injured?
A. Yes. The company didn’t stop him from arriving early and he was essentially carrying out his job duties on company property when the accident occurred.
B. No. He was not on the clock and would not have been allowed to be on the clock at that time. Also, he was moving his truck for his personal convenience, not per his employer’s instructions.
If you selected A, you agreed with the court in Dunn v. Pallets, Assoc, Inc., No. 2025 CA 1051 (La. Ct. App. 02/27/26), which focused in part on the fact that the employer never discouraged the driver from coming in early.
The court pointed out that when he arrived just after 5:00, the driver performed a mandated safety check and prepared his work vehicle for the day, all while on the employer’s property.
Moreover, his injury occurred when he crossed the street in an effort to clock in and await his daily safety briefing. Finally, the accident happened on a street primarily utilized for business.
Finding no reason to disturb the WCJ’s ruling that the injury occurred in the course and scope of employment, the court refused to overturn the WCJ’s award of benefits.
