Getting hurt at work on Halloween
One of the most interesting cases I saw from a few years ago involved a worker who was hurt at their office while hanging pumpkin decorations for an office party at Halloween.
In general, if a party is not mandatory and you get hurt at the party, you do not get workers' compensation benefits. If it is mandatory then you do get benefits.
In this case, the worker was organizing the party for the office and we argued it was more like a birthday celebration than a company picnic or something like that. The case eventually settled.
For your purposes, you should probably just enjoy any party that you can and like anything else in life be careful. I certainly wouldn't miss a party because it wasn't covered by workers' compensation. If you do get hurt then let a lawyer who knows what they are talking about do a real analysis of your case to determine if you are entitled to benefits.
Some ways we determine mandatory versus not are:
Statement that you have to attend from the boss.
Loss of pay if you aren't there or other repercussions.
Being asked to show up because clients will be there.
Work issues being discussed (e.g. a presentation before a cocktail hour)
It's not always black and white and like our case described above, sometimes there are shades of gray. Moral of the story is to not give up on a case just because someone tells you that you don't have one.
We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
