After hours travel accommodation

[vickyp]

#102737

Forum: Community

Hi, 
We have many employees who travel for work and stay overnight at a hotel or rental accommodation. I am wondering, if an incident occurs (i.e. someone falls down the stairs) after working hours, and they are not performing work, they are just in their accommodation, will the employer be on the hook for WSIB claims or legal actions’ Of course the employer will do an internal investigation for any corrective actions for the incident, but can the employer still be under any legal recourse for after work hours incidents’ An example is when the employee is at a restaurant during their travels for meals (i.e. dinner time and work has been completed for the day) and they suffer from an allergic reaction from the food and had to be hospitalized, is the employer on the hook legally’
Thanks

[vickyp]

#103168

In Ontario, the answer is yes for the hotel and yes for the restaurant as long as it was a business dinner and not just a personal excursion away from the hotel. Here are the relevant provisions of the WSIB Policy (with my bold faces). https://www.wsib.ca/en/operational-policy-manual/travelling
Policy
Travel on employer’s business
When the conditions of the employment require the worker to travel away from the employer’s premises, the worker is considered to be in the course of the employment continuously except when a distinct departure on a personal errand is shown. The mode of travel may be by public transportation or by employer or worker vehicle if the employment requires the use of such a vehicle. However, the employment must obligate the worker to be travelling at the place and time the accident occurred.
Overnight accommodation
Entitlement under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act or the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) extends to persons travelling in the course of employment to and from various places. Coverage also extends to accidents occurring in such places as hotels when the employer is paying the worker’s expenses. The worker is covered should he suffer injury by accident at any time while in the hotel engaged in reasonable acts such as dining in the restaurant and using washroom facilities. If the worker chooses to dine in a restaurant other than in the hotel but within a reasonable distance of it, coverage is extended during this activity. There is no entitlement if the worker is injured while visiting a movie theatre or cocktail lounge or engaging in some other personal activity.
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Hope that helps. Glenn

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