Traveling employees create a MAJOR problem if not property addressed up front. Workers’ compensation is a state-based system; this means that every state applies its own rules, requirements and guidelines. When employees leave one state to work temporarily in another state, a major workers’ compensation problem can be created. Specifically: “Which state’s workers’ compensation law applies?” To properly build a worker's compensation program requires knowing where employees work.

For workers’ compensation purposes, the two key terms are “extraterritoriality” and “reciprocity.” Extraterritoriality examines how the workers’ compensation coverage responds when the employee leaves the state – basically, does the workers’ compensation coverage follow the employee when the travel to another state to work. Once the answer to the extraterritorial question is known, then the question of reciprocity must be answered. Does the state to which the employee travel recognize and accept the extraterritorial coverage? Is there reciprocity? This session digs deep into the topic of traveling employees and how the workers’ compensation program must be crafted to properly respond to an injury.

By the end of this class, you should be able to:

• Examine the relationship between extraterritoriality and reciprocity in workers’ compensation
• Discuss the available options for an injured worker
• Describe the two “jurisdictional” tests
• Decide which states require 3.A. status