Low bar for performing employment services allows employee to collect benefits

Employees are entitled to workers' compensation benefits only if they're injured while they're performing employment services. However, that standard can be satisfied even when an employee suffers an injury during a break, according to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Background facts

Patricia Hines, a surgical services patient unit coordinator at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), slipped and fell at work, fracturing her left patella. Following her injury, which required surgery, she filed a claim for workers' comp benefits. UAMS challenged her claim, alleging she wasn't performing employment services at the time of the accident because she was on break.

Hines testified she worked at the front desk of her unit and was responsible for scheduling, coordinating, and staffing the department's 32 surgical rooms. She was required to clock in at the beginning of her shift and clock out when it was over. Her breaks weren't scheduled because her work involved emergencies and traumas, so she usually combined them with her lunch and took just one break.

On the day of her accident, Hines left her work area and rode the elevator to the first floor. As she exited the elevator, she answered a phone call from her granddaughter. She then took 10 to 15 steps before she slipped and fell.