Do Six Special Circumstances Count as Work-Related Injuries?

Q1: If an employee leaves their post without authorization and is injured by a motor vehicle on the way home, does this count as a work-related injury?

a: China's Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance provide: “An employee who is injured in a motor vehicle accident on the way to or from work shall be recognized as having suffered a work-related injury.” An employee leaving work early without authorization is an act of violating labor discipline and should be subject to corresponding disciplinary action by the employer. However, recognition of a work-related injury cannot be refused merely because the employee has violated labor discipline. Although the employee was not returning home at the normal off-duty time, objectively speaking, even if the employee left early, he or she was still returning home from the workplace after getting off work, which still falls within off-duty time and still constitutes the “way to or from work.” Therefore, it should be recognized as a work-related injury.

 Q2: If a motor vehicle accident occurs on the way to a non-fixed residence, a child's school, or a market after work, should it be recognized as a work-related injury?

a: Although the law does not provide a clear definition of "commuting to and from work," it is generally understood as the process during which an employee travels between the employer and home along a reasonable route within a reasonable time. If the employee makes a detour to handle other matters, and those matters are necessarily connected to their work or returning home, that process should also be recognized as commuting to and from work. The revised Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance, effective January 1, 2011, removed the restriction of the "necessary route" for commuting to and from work under the old law. Commuting to and from work should be understood as a journey undertaken for the purpose of going to work. If a worker, after getting off work, goes to a non-fixed residence, a child's school, or a market, this may be recognized as a "reasonable route while commuting off work." If the worker dies in a traffic accident for which they do not bear primary responsibility during such a journey, Article 14, Item (6) of the Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance shall apply, and it shall be recognized as a work-related injury.

Q3: Can injuries sustained during cultural and recreational activities organized by the employer (such as tourism, social dances, sports competitions, etc.) be recognized as work-related injuries?

a: The most important criterion for determining whether an injury constitutes a work-related injury is whether the injury accident occurred in the workplace and arose out of work-related reasons. Whether an injury sustained during cultural and sports activities organized by the employer can be recognized as a work-related injury must be assessed on a case-by-case basis:

First, social dances and sports competitions are activities conducted for the benefit of work, such as business interactions between employers or building corporate culture. They contribute to enhancing corporate cohesion, fostering corporate culture, and strengthening the company's image. Ultimately, they are beneficial to the company's operations and should be considered an integral part of work. Injuries sustained during such activities should be recognized as work-related injuries.

Second, if an employee is injured during a purely welfare-oriented collective activity organized by the employer, such as recreational or leisure activities like recuperation trips or tours that employees can voluntarily participate in, it cannot be recognized as a work-related injury. This is because such activities are unrelated to work and are a welfare benefit provided by the employer to employees. To alleviate the financial burden on injured employees and avoid unnecessary conflicts and disputes, employers can purchase commercial insurance, such as personal accident insurance, for employees in advance.

In judicial practice, determining whether an employee's injury while participating in a collective activity organized by the employer constitutes an injury "caused by work" generally involves examining the following three aspects:

1. Whether the group activity is relatively directly related to work duties;

2. Whether collective activities are mandatory;

3. Whether the purpose of holding collective activities is related to the interests of the enterprise.

Q4: Can an accident that occurs during an employee's paid leave be recognized as a work-related injury?

a: Injuries or deaths occurring during paid leave are not considered work-related injuries, as they do not happen at the workplace, during working hours, or due to work reasons. It is worth noting that if an employee travels during paid leave and sustains injuries in a traffic accident for which they are not primarily responsible while traveling directly from the company to an airport, train station, or other departure point, such travel shall be recognized as a "commute to or from work" under relevant regulations, and the employee may be entitled to work-related injury insurance compensation.

Q5: If an injury or death occurs due to drinking alcohol at a work-related social event or a corporate annual meeting, can it be recognized as a work-related injury? If an illness is caused by long-term drinking at work-related social events, can it be recognized as an occupational disease?

a: The new Regulations on Work-Related Injury Insurance explicitly provide that if an employee sustains a work-related injury due to drunkenness, it shall not be recognized as a work-related injury or deemed as such. Therefore, whether it is drinking with clients to maintain business relationships or drinking to foster rapport among employees and supervisors, it cannot be recognized as a work-related injury.

At the same time, occupational diseases as defined by China's "Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law" refer to diseases caused by exposure to dust, radioactive substances, and other toxic or harmful factors during occupational activities by workers in enterprises, institutions, and individual economic organizations. They must be diseases listed in the nationally published classification and catalog of occupational diseases. Therefore, diseases caused by drinking for social purposes are not occupational diseases as defined by Chinese law and cannot qualify for occupational disease benefits.

Q6: Can an accident that occurs during an employee's work break be recognized as a work-related injury?

a: Rest breaks during work hours should be considered part of working time. Although a rest break is not directly related to the work content, it is a normal, necessary, and reasonable physiological need in daily work and is inseparable from the employee’s regular work. Resting during work is intended to enable better performance and improved efficiency in the subsequent working hours, and therefore should also be attributed to work-related reasons. In accordance with the provisions of the Regulation on Work-Related Injury Insurance regarding the determination of work-related injuries, an accident occurring during a rest break meets the conditions of “at the workplace, during working hours, and for work-related reasons” and should be determined as a work-related injury. It should also be noted that whether an injury is “for work-related reasons” requires specific analysis based on the actual circumstances and should not be generalized.