Did the affected employee’s injury or illness result solely from voluntary participation in a wellness program, or in a medical, fitness, or recreational activity such as blood donation, physical examination, flu shot, exercise class, racquetball, or baseball?
NOTE: The key words here are “solely” and “voluntary.” The work environment cannot have contributed to the injury or illness in any way for this exception to apply, and participation in the wellness, fitness, or recreational activities must be voluntary and not a condition of employment. For example, if a clerical worker was injured while performing aerobics in the company gymnasium during his or her lunch hour, the case would not be work-related. On the other hand, if an employee who was assigned to manage the gymnasium was injured while teaching an aerobics class, the injury would be work-related because the employee was working at the time of the injury and the activity was not voluntary. See, the preamble to the 2001 final rule revising OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation at 66 Federal Register 5951.
U.S. Department of Labor
