Injury sustained while travelling to work on off day can be claimed: Court

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an injury sustained by an employee while travelling to the workplace on an off day is claimable as an employment injury from the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

The three-person bench chaired by judge Lee Swee Seng yesterday allowed former senior technician N Sathiaseelan’s appeal to claim temporary disability benefits over injuries caused by an accident while he was riding a motorcycle from Ipoh, Perak, to his rental house near his workplace in Kulim, Kedah, on Oct 16, 2016.

In a statement today, the appellant’s counsel T Manoharan confirmed the outcome of the appeal by the bench that also comprised judges Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

The lawyer explained that Sathiaseelan suffered injuries and disabilities while travelling on his off day in order to be able to attend work at Infinion Technology Sdn Bhd the following day on Oct 17, 2016.

Manoharan said that the appellant had submitted Form 34 to Socso to claim temporary disability benefits due to the accident, but the government agency rejected his claim because it said his accident was not an employment injury under the Employees Social Security Act 1969.

The lawyer elaborated that Sathiaseelan initially filed an appeal to the Socso Appeal Board, which was dismissed based on the reason that the injuries sustained in the accident were not considered employment injuries under Section 24 of the Act.

Manoharan said that the board had told Sathiaseelan that his travel time on Sunday was not connected to his employment but was due to personal reasons.

Sathiaseelan proceeded with a legal action against Socso, but the Ipoh High Court dismissed it on similar reasoning, the lawyer added.

Landmark decision

Manoharan’s client then turned to the Court of Appeal, which allowed the appeal on the ground that the injury sustained in the accident on Sunday was an employment injury per Section 24.

“This is a landmark decision by the Court of Appeal, and this case is a success for all employees, wherein in future, the Socso Board shall not reject any claim based on the reason that any employee travelling on Sunday for the purpose of his employment on the next day, was not connected to his employment or due to personal reasons.

“It is clearly decided by the Court of Appeal that any injury sustained in an accident while an employee is travelling on a route between his place of residence and his place of work, on Sunday, while the employee is on leave, is to be regarded as an employment injury under the Employees Social Security Act 1969,” the lawyer said.

Counsel Mohd Suhaib Ibrahim represented Socso.

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