Work-related injury identification tip 27: Does falling while on your way to eat after work count as a work-related injury?

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Case introduction: Zhao Wenqiong is an employee in the quality control department at Dongguan Xinjing Electronics Co., Ltd. Her regular working hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; she works overtime in the evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. At 17:00 on November 8, 2011, after finishing work and leaving the production workshop as well as punching in her time card, Zhao Wenqiong fell to the ground while on her way to the cafeteria for lunch; she was immediately taken to Guanghua Hospital in Dongguan City for treatment. On November 9, 2011, she was diagnosed with a fracture of the upper part of the right femur. On November 9, 2011, Dongguan Xinhong Electronics Co., Ltd. submitted an Application for Work-Related Injury Recognition to the Dongguan Social Security Bureau, requesting that Zhao Wenqiong’s aforementioned injury be recognized as a work-related injury. After accepting the case, the Dongguan Social Security Bureau conducted an investigation and verification, and on December 30, 2011, issued the Work-Related Injury Recognition Certificate No. 20411908, determining that the injury suffered by Zhao Wenqiong on November 8, 2011, did not meet the requirements stipulated in Articles 14 and 15 of the Work-Related Injury Insurance Regulations; thus, her injury was classified as not being work-related. Zhao Wenqiong filed a lawsuit in court. The Guangdong High People’s Court ruled that the Social Security Bureau had made an error, and Zhao Wenqiong’s injury constituted an occupational injury. Case analysis: The Higher People’s Court of Guangdong Province held that Article 14 of the Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance stipulates: “An employee shall be recognized as having a work-related injury under any of the following circumstances: … (2) Suffering an accident injury while carrying out preparatory or concluding work related to the job inside the workplace before or after working hours” ； ……”The accident in this case occurred within a reasonable period of time after the afternoon shift and before the start of the evening shift. The accident occurred at the entrance of Dormitory 103 in Building C of the company, which is located within the factory premises and constitutes a reasonable extension of the work area. Zhao Wenqiong still had to work the night shift after eating; eating is a normal physiological need for workers to carry out their work, and within reasonable time limits, it can be considered part of the preparatory work related to the job, meeting the criteria for recognizing work-related injuries. The lawyer believes that the key factors in determining whether Zhao Wenqiong’s injuries in this case can be classified as work-related injuries are whether she still needed to go to work after eating, and whether the time spent eating was long enough. Generally, the schedule in factories is quite tight; meal times during noon and evening are usually between half an hour and an hour, meaning they are short. Although the meal time in between is not strictly considered working hours, since it is short enough that it does not suffice to separate the two working periods from each other, this meal time should be regarded as a physiological preparation for starting the next work period after finishing the previous one; hence, the Higher People’s Court of Guangdong Province reached the aforementioned conclusion. The lawyer also argued that the aforementioned determination might constitute an excessive expansion of the concept of \"performing preparatory or concluding work related to the job.\" Thus, the question arises: since this case took place within a factory premises, what should be the approach if it had not occurred there, or if the meal break lasted 2 hours? Therefore, such a determination does protect workers’ rights to a certain extent, but it also overinterprets the existing laws. It is hoped that the court will set certain limits on the reasonable time frame and applicable circumstances in such cases; otherwise, the working hours stipulated by law will be rendered meaningless. Conclusion: Although this case was classified as a work-related injury, it is actually closely related to the presiding judge’s interpretation of the regulations on work-related injury recognition; different judges may lead to different conclusions.