Claims are often denied by insurance companies under the defense that an injured employee wasn’t actually working at the time the job injury occurred.  Under our current law, however, injuries that may not seem particularly work-related at first glance may actually be viable workers’ compensation claims.  For example, an injury occurring while an employee is using the restroom, eating lunch, or even on break might very well be deemed to be a compensable claim under our Workers’ Compensation Act.  Our Employment Services Doctrine states that if an employee is performing services at the time of his accident that either directly or even indirectly benefit the employer in any way, that employee is technically “on the job” when the injury occurred.  Some of these cases have to be tried in court; and some go all the way up to our Supreme Court, like this one, handled and won by Hart Law in 2006: https://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/weblink8/0/doc/273068/Page6.aspx

By:  Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law