COIDA and accident cover while commuting to or from work

Employees are frequently concerned about the matter of whether the Compensation Commissioner will cover them if they were involved in a motor vehicle accident that occurred while travelling to/from work.

COIDA stipulates that the accident should ‘‘arise out of and in the course of an employee’s employment’’. It should have occurred while the worker was on duty and should have been part of the workers scope of duty. 

This means that an employee who is travelling to/from work is not “on duty” and therefore would not be eligible to claim from the Compensation Commissioner. However if employees are, provided free transport by their employer and are driven by their employer or another employee then Act will cover them.

According to Section 22(5), of the COID Act, ‘‘the conveyance of an employee free of charge to or from his place of employment for the purposes of his employment by means of a vehicle driven by the employer himself or one of his employees and specially provided by his employer for the purpose of such conveyance, shall be deemed to take place in the course of such employee’s employment’’.

Workers who are drivers or who have to be transported as part of their work could be covered by the provisions of COIDA if the accident occurred ‘‘in course and scope of employment’’ and the following criteria are met: :

• Transport must be provided free of charge by the employer
• The vehicle must be driven by the employer himself or an employee.
• The employer must have control over the transport such as keeping records such as a logbook.
• The vehicle must be on a direct route

Another commonly asked question related to transport is whether an employee is covered when in a motor vehicle accident that took place in transport arranged by or paid for by their employer.

In the case that your employer asks you to use your own private vehicle or to make use of public transport to carry out your job during working hours, you will be covered. This however does not apply when travelling from home to work or when commuting from work to home.