An employee who does not receive mileage reimbursement for use of his car during an unpaid lunch hour is injured en route to the bank. Which doctrine supports compensation?

• A. Delay and investigate.
• B. Accept because of the personal comfort doctrine.
• C. Deny due to a personal errand.
• D. Deny due to personal errand not related to work.

Answer: (B)

The scenario tests the personal comfort doctrine. This rule says that injuries occurring during an employee’s authorized rest or meal break can still be considered within the course of employment if the break is provided or approved by the employer and the detour taken for personal comfort is reasonably part of that break.

Here, the lunch hour is an unpaid break allowed by the employer. The employee went to the bank during that break and was injured while en route. Because the trip happened during an employer-approved rest period and is tied to that period of personal comfort, the injury is treated as occurring within the scope of employment, making compensation appropriate under the doctrine.

If the detour were purely a frolic or wholly unrelated to the workday or the rest period—for example, an off-topic errand outside any sanctioned break—the doctrine wouldn’t apply and compensation could be denied. But in this case, the lunch break context makes the personal comfort doctrine the best fit.