Cable technicians can be traveling employees with no fixed place of employment.

The claimant began each workday by reporting to the employer’s facility, where he received his assignments and picked up equipment. He then spent the rest of his workday traveling to various customer locations. He took his company vehicle home each night and used it to report to work in the mornings, but he was not allowed passengers, other drivers or use of the vehicle for personal reasons.

Based on the “coming and going rule,” the Workers’ Compensation Judge and the Appeal Board found that the claimant was not in the course of employment when he was injured in a single vehicle accident that occurred while driving the company car to the employer’s facility.

The Commonwealth Court found that the claimant had no fixed place of employment and reversed the decisions below. Citing an unreported opinion in which it was determined that a cable technician was a traveling employee, the court held that the claimant had no fixed place of work and was entitled to a presumption that he was working for the employer during the drive from his house to the employer’s facility.

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2014