Interpreting the definition of “employment” under N.J.S.A. 34:15-36 of the Act in the context of off-premises employment.

The petitioner, a school bus aide, filed a claim with the Division of Workers’ Compensation seeking medical and indemnity benefits after she was injured while stepping from the school bus. The respondent denied that the petitioner’s accident arose out of and in the course of her employment and invoked N.J.S.A. 34:15-36 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

The respondent argued that, because all of the children had already been dropped off, and the petitioner was being driven home rather than to the bus yard, her work day had ended prior to her fall. At the conclusion of a bifurcated trial as to the issue of compensability, the Judge of Compensation rejected the respondent’s argument and found that the petitioner’s injuries did indeed arise out of and in the course of her employment. The respondent appealed.

In affirming the Judge of Compensation’s ruling, the Appellate Division characterized the respondent’s contention that the petitioner’s injuries did not arise out of and in the course of her employment as inconsistent with N.J.S.A. 34:15-36. Accordingly, the Appellate Division concluded that the Judge of Compensation properly determined that the petitioner’s work day began when she arrived at the bus yard in the morning and ended when she exited the bus at night.

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2014