Case Study: All in Good Fun – But Who is Responsible?

The answer lies in communications.

Being perceived as an engaged employee can often involve participating in activities or events not specifically related to the course and scope of employment. However, these same events can be important ways to build bonds with co-workers and show commitment to your employer or the causes your company supports.

Team-building is important – but are injuries that may arise during these activities covered? And how do you tell if they are or are not? From years of experience in helping employers understand the difference, PartnerSource advises that it really comes down to how these events are communicated to employees.

Consider the following scenarios:

Employee gets in a pickle: An employee participates in a voluntary fundraising pickleball game. The employee sprains her knee and seeks benefits under the occupational injury benefit plan because the fundraiser was sponsored by her employer. 

What to consider: How was the event communicated to employees? Was it featured in official company emails, posted in break rooms, communicated by managers verbally? All communication (verbally and in writing) should clearly note that any participation is voluntary.  Injuries like this would not be covered, as they stem from voluntary participation.

Manager shoulders task of skydiving: Managers love to celebrate their team’s success to motivate and build trust with their peers. When a team hit their quarterly sales quota, regional management coordinated an event to celebrate their efforts at an indoor skydiving simulator for the team. One of the supervisors who led his team to a successful quarter felt the need to participate in the activity himself to show support and build camaraderie with his team. While in the simulator, he sustained an injury to his shoulder that he felt the company should cover.

Hard reality: Decisions in situations like this come down to how the event was communicated: Though it was made clear that all employees were invited to attend the event at no cost to participate, was it communicated to managers that their participation in the team-building activity itself was required? Indoor skydiving was not in the course and scope of his actual job, but this employee felt obligated to participate because he is a manager. Because it was not specifically required (in writing) of managers to participate in the skydiving to build morale, claims such as this one, in Workers’ Compensation, would be denied.

But also, a soft landing: Under the Texas Option, employers have flexibility to determine how they want to help their employees. In this case, the employer elected to give the supervisor the equivalent of the deductible so he could get treatment for his shoulder. In order to help the employee and not cause a delay in him getting care, the employer was able to obtain PartnerSource’s guidance on a resolution that could help the supervisor transition to alternate coverage.  In this case, the PartnerSource consulting team provided assistance with an out-of-plan option that helped the employer find an alternate solution to care of their injured employee.  

Employee picks up injury in pick-up game: A corporate office has a gym and basketball court for employees to use. During lunch, a group of employees plays a pick-up game of basketball to get exercise and blow off steam. While playing, an employee sprains his ankle. Is the company liable for the treatment of this injury?

No free throw here: In this case, it was clear that the employer was not liable. The employer required employees to sign a waiver before using the company-owned gym, and the employer also posted a sign on the basketball courts reminding those that elect to use the facilities that doing so was voluntary and at their own risk. This injury was not covered.

Remember Course and Scope
It’s important to remember that course and scope of employment is “an activity of any kind or character for which an employee was hired and that has to do with, and originates in, the work, business, trade or profession of the employer, and that is performed by the employee in the furtherance of the affairs or business of the employer.” The term could include activities conducted on the premises of the employer or at other locations designated by the employer. 

•    Covered injuries are those that must directly and solely result from an employee’s course and scope of employment.

•    Non-covered injuries are those that arise out of participation in an off-duty recreational, social or athletic activity not part of the course and scope of employment, except where these activities are expressly required in writing by the employer – and are more than simply an invitation or request to participate or attend.
Though voluntary recreational events are excluded in both traditional Workers’ Comp and under Texas Option injury benefit plans, the Option does offer employers flexibility in deciding how they prefer to handle these claims, allowing companies the control they want and need to care for their employees.

Communication is Key
Team-building events are a great way to build morale and help bring people together, especially in a time where remote or hybrid work environments are increasingly commonplace. Whether it’s a game of laser tag; a visit to the bowling alley; go-kart racing; or a spirited game of whirlyball, baseball, volleyball, basketball or pickleball, the opportunities to get your team together around a common activity outside of your day jobs can be appealing.

No matter the game, activity or event, it’s imperative for employers to clearly communicate whether the employee’s participation is required. If their participation is required, the activity is covered. If it’s merely “encouraged,” injuries that may arise from the activity are not necessarily covered. From a risk management standpoint, employers should be deliberate about explaining that the risk is the employee’s own.

PartnerSource Value
Four decades in providing leading expertise to employers in the Texas Option industry affords PartnerSource unique perspective on how companies address events like this with their employees. Also, in helping employers doing business in Texas, experts at PartnerSource can help advise on the right Texas injury benefit plan for your business that provides the flexibility and cost-savings you want on your road to taking better care of injured employees.

Contact your team leader today with questions about whether work-related or work-sponsored events are covered, or if you have questions about how they are communicated. 

With the valuable insight and experience we bring to the game, PartnerSource makes an excellent team player!