Are You In or Out? An Overview of Ingress/Egress Injuries 

By Caley Pitts 

In general, if an employee’s job duties are contained to a fixed place of employment, an injury occurring while they are going to or coming from work is not compensable. However, one notable exception to this rule exists when an employee is engaged in what is known as reasonable ingress or egress. This exception applies when an employee is injured on the employer’s premises, within a reasonable time from starting or stopping work. 

Georgia law, which resembles other states’ approach to this subject, has recognized that employees must be allotted a reasonable time from reaching the employer’s premises prior to work and after work ends before leaving the employer’s premises, during which time a work accident could be construed as arising out of and in the course of employment. Jackson v. Lumberman’s Mut. Cas. Co., 33 Ga. App. 35, 35–36, 125 S.E. 515 (1924). The reasonable ingress/egress exception has recently been upheld and even broadened to include cases of ingress and egress during scheduled breaks. Frett v. State Farm Employee Workers’ Compensation, 309 Ga. 44, 844 S.E.2d 749 (2020). 

The determination of whether the employee’s claim is compensable under the ingress/egress exception depends on the facts of each case. The ingress and egress must be “reasonable” for the exception to apply, and two of the biggest considerations are the timing and location of the injury when determining reasonableness.  

Regarding the timing of the ingress/egress, there is no specific amount of time required by law for the exception to apply. A judge would look at the particular facts of each case to determine whether the timing is reasonable. In the past, Georgia courts have found compensability in cases in which an employee was injured 15 minutes after work ended and 30 minutes before work started. No maximum number of minutes or hours has been established, but in Jackson, it was found that an injury occurring two hours before work started was an unreasonable amount of time for ingress. 

Regarding location, as long as the injury occurs within a reasonable amount of time, an employee who is injured on the employer’s premises while going to or coming from work may be entitled to coverage under workers’ compensation. The judge would consider the case-specific circumstances to determine whether a certain area qualifies as the employer’s premises. If an employee reports to a fixed place of employment, the employment premises would typically consist of the enclosed area or building in which the employee directly works. The shared areas found in office buildings, building complexes, and even shopping centers may also be considered the employment premises if the way the employee enters or leaves the building is the only means of ingress or egress to work, or if it is one of two routes available. De Howitt v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 99 Ga. App. 147, 108 S.E.2d 280 (1959).  

For purposes of workers’ compensation coverage, the employment premises also extend to parking lots that are owned, directed, controlled, or maintained by the employer. As such, if an employee is injured in an employer’s parking area within a reasonable amount of time from the start or end of their work, they are likely eligible for benefits. Similarly, if an employee is injured on an employer-controlled street during a reasonable period of ingress/egress, the injury is likely to be deemed compensable. It may even be determined that an employee sustained a compensable work injury on a public street if they were injured going from an employer-designated parking area directly to their place of work or vice versa. 

When determining the reasonableness of the ingress and egress, another consideration is the employee’s purpose for being at the work location at the time of the accident or injury. Even if an employee is on the employer’s premises near the start or end of their shift, if they are at the location for a “purely personal” reason, any injury they sustain may not be found compensable as the injury would not have transpired in the course of their employment. However, it is worth noting that it could be difficult to show the reason the employee was at the work location was purely personal when the accident or injury occurs close in time to their shift and on the employer’s premises, particularly as Frett broadened the ingress/egress exception to include injuries occurring during scheduled work breaks. 

Overall, the ingress/egress exception allows employees to receive workers’ compensation benefits when an injury occurs on the employer’s premises within a reasonable period of coming to or going from work, even if the employee is not working at the time of the injury. The facts will be reviewed by a judge on a case-by-case basis to decide whether this exception applies. As such, a practical takeaway for both employers and employees is to document in detail how an employee’s accident or injury occurred and the surrounding circumstances, including when and where it occurred and the reason the employee was in this location at the time. The employee should immediately report any accident or injury to their employer so it can be documented, and if there is a question of compensability related to reasonable ingress/egress, it would be beneficial for both parties to retain legal counsel; so an attorney can analyze the specifics of the case and provide legal advice pertinent to the particular facts. In addition, it would be in the best interest of both employers and employees for the employment premises to be kept in a safe, secure, and non-hazardous condition as this will help to avoid accidents and injuries from occurring in the first place. A safe work environment is beneficial for both sides, as it means fewer injuries for the workers and fewer workers’ compensation claims against the employer.  

Caley Pitts, an associate attorney in Swift Currie’s Atlanta office, focuses her practice on defending employers and insurance companies in workers’ compensation claims throughout the state of Georgia. 

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