Coming to or returning to work at an odd hour at the request of the employer falls under which concept?

• A. Special Mission Exception
• B. Exclusive remedy
• C. Personal risk
• D. Commercial traveler rule

Answer: (A)

When an employer directs an employee to report or return to work at an unusual time to perform a task away from the normal workplace, that trip is treated as a special mission for the employer. The Special Mission Exception then makes injuries that occur during travel to or from that assignment part of the employee’s injury covered by workers’ compensation. In other words, the normal rule that commuting isn’t work-related is overridden because the employee is on a specific employer-directed mission.

This concept fits because the key factor is the employer’s instruction creating a temporary, particular task—not simply routine commuting. The other options don’t describe this scenario: exclusive remedy refers to workers’ comp as the employee’s sole remedy rather than the travel being within the course of employment; personal risk concerns injuries arising from the worker’s own non-work-related choices; and the commercial traveler rule covers a narrower subset of travelers and doesn’t capture the general idea of a special, employer-directed mission.