What is a commute accident?

Your residence may be your principal residence.

It can also be a usual secondary house, that is to say where you are subject to frequent and regular stays.

It can also be any other place where you usually go for family or pleasure reasons.

The journey from home to work should be as direct as possible.

Exceptionally, some detours can be accepted (for example, if the detour is made as part of a regular carpooling).

A journey accident may also be recognized in the following circumstances:

• The interruption or detour is justified by the essential necessities of everyday life (e.g. stop to go shopping, detour to accompany children to school or to their place of care)
• The interruption of the journey or detour is linked to work (e.g. picking up a package, traveling to an outside business appointment).

The journey must be made during a time slot in relation to your working hours, taking into account the length of the journey and the means of transport used.

Thus, a journey accident is not permitted if the journey was made several hours after or before working hours.

A journey accident shall, however, be permitted, by way of exception, if the journey made is work-related. Example: Pot organized in the company, with the agreement of the employer, after working hours.

The accident en route must be reported within 24 hours to your employer if you are an employee:

The accident on the way does not give rise to the right to specific compensation in the event of permanent incapacity, it is regarded as a non-occupational accident and does not give rise to the right to double redundancy pay.

You have no special protection against dismissal.

If the accident occurs between the workplace and the place where you are training, it is a accident at work.

The place of restoration refers to the restaurant, canteen or place where you usually eat your meals.

A journey accident is recognized if the following 3 conditions are met:

• The accident occurred between the workplace and the restaurant
• You must visit the restaurant regularly (at a frequency that the courts will decide, depending on the case), but not necessarily every day
• Meals are served during working hours (e.g. lunch break)

The accident en route must be reported within 24 hours to your employer if you are an employee:

The accident on the way does not give rise to the right to specific compensation in the event of permanent incapacity, it is regarded as a non-occupational accident and does not give rise to the right to double redundancy pay.

You have no special protection against dismissal.