Employee Paid Time for Workers’ Compensation Medical Appointments

The question is whether an employee is entitled to hourly compensation or over time for the periods in which he goes to his/her workers’ compensation doctor for consultation or treatment. This is laid out federally through the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

§ 785.43 Medical attention.

Time spent by an employee in waiting for and receiving medical attention on the premises or at the direction of the employer during the employee‘s normal working hours on days when he is working constitutes hours worked.

In many cases, we can rule out medical attention at the premises, as most employees gos off-site for treatment.

But is the off-site treatment at the direction of the employer? The employer is typically aware of the workers compensation claim and the need for treatment. In fact, the employer may encourage employees to receive workers compensation benefits for job-related activities. This does not mean the employer is directing the employee to make the appointments on specific days or specific hours. They are simply allowing or acknowledging it.

In fact, the appointments are by and between the employee and the doctor who does the scheduling. If anything, it is at the direction of the doctor.

As such, the employee must clock in and out and cannot be paid for these visits under those circumstances. That employee would be entitled to use PTO for those hours.

Notice the difference if the employer directs the employee to seek medical attention. An example would be an annual medical examination for fitness. Another example is if there has been an accident and a reasonable suspicion of intoxication, requiring the employee to go to the company clinic for a blood test–that would be compensable.

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