An EE, not paid for mileage, going to the bank on his lunch break to cash his paycheck, had an injury, the injury is:

• A. Not compensable because it was solely a personal errand.
• B. Compensable because of the going and coming rule.
• C. Not compensable because of the personal comfort doctrine.
• D. Compensable because of the personal comfort doctrine.

Answer: (A)

The important principle is that injuries during travel to or from the workplace are not compensable unless there’s an employer-related purpose or a specific exception. In this scenario, the lunch-break trip to the bank to cash a paycheck is a personal errand, not something the employer required or benefited from, and it occurs off the work premises. Because it’s purely personal and not tied to the job, the injury isn’t compensable.

The personal comfort doctrine would apply only to injuries that happen on the employer’s premises during an authorized break related to rest or comfort; it doesn’t cover off-site, non-work-related errands. So the best conclusion is that the injury isn’t compensable because it was solely a personal errand.