Workplace injuries are more common than you might think. In some workplaces (such as factories, construction sites, and so on), one person gets injured every single day due to negligence, defective products, etc.
But what happens when you travel and work at the same time? Naturally, we refer to incurring injuries when you’re traveling for work into another state. While this may be the ideal way for you to relax a bit while enjoying the new scenery, an injury can ruin everything, including your ability to perform and earn money.
Let’s take a closer look at what you can do if you get injured while working in another state.
The Essentials
To keep this short, we inform you that you’re not covered by your workers’ compensation unless your employer decided to buy one for the state in which you’ll be temporarily working.
As such, if your offices are in a specific state, you’ll most likely be covered by workers’ compensation there. But if you travel to New Jersey for a project, your employer must purchase said compensation for that particular state.
However, if you’re not covered, a New Jersey workers compensation lawyer can still help you file a claim against your employer since they are still liable for you! Why?
Workers’ Compensation Coverage Gap
According to the workers’ compensation act, an injured employee can file a claim against their employee in any of the following three locations, so to say:
- In the state where the main offices are localized.
- In the state where they got injured (while working).
- In the state where they currently live.
In short, even if you incur an injury in New York, but you live in Indiana, and the main offices are in New Mexico, you can file a claim against your employer in any of these states.
However, the trick is that the workers’ compensation policy that your employer buys must mention all of the three locations specified above.
Rule Exceptions
Luckily for most employees, standard workers’ compensation policies include out-of-state, limited time coverage. This usually extends for up to one month, a period in which employees are protected directly by their compensation if they incur any injuries.
If the period ends and the employee must continue working in another state, their employer must buy a policy for that particular state.
What Can You Do?
Well, as you can see, the first thing is to get informed! If you get injured during your first week in another state, you don’t have to worry as you’re still covered.
But if you know that you’ll be gone for over 30 days, you should ask your employer about potential accidents and workers’ compensation in another state.
The Bottom Line
In the end, if you get injured while working in another state and you’re not covered by workers’ compensation, we strongly recommend hiring a lawyer. They might help you exploit some gaps in this compensation policy that will hold the employer liable for your injuries.
However, getting informed early is still the best thing you can do!
About Peter C.
Peter is a digital nomad who largely writes from Asia, Europe, and South America. Always following the "vibe," he sets up shop in hostels and AirBNB's and continues to entertain us with wild stories from life abroad.
