Under the Personal Comfort Doctrine, is an injury sustained by an employee waiting outside the workplace for it to open compensable?

• A. No
• B. Only if there is a substantial deviation
• C. Only if the employee is waiting inside
• D. Yes

Answer: (D)

The idea behind this rule is that injuries can be compensable when they occur while an employee is preparing to work or taking a brief personal-comfort moment that is tied to the job. Waiting outside the workplace for it to open is still part of the workday and the employee’s presence there is at the employer’s instruction, aimed at starting the shift. The risk isn’t from a personal, unrelated activity, but from being in the work environment and ready to begin duties, so the injury is considered to have happened in the course of employment. Therefore, it is compensable.