Jurisdiction

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

II. JURISDICTION

A. Injuries Occurring in Maryland

The Act applies to all accidents in Maryland except:

1. Navigable waters

Those occurring on navigable waters and certain adjacent areas, which would be covered by the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.³⁰

2. Non-residents

Those involving a worker and employer who are not residents of Maryland and whose contract of hire was entered into in another state where the injury occurred while such worker was working temporarily or intermittently within Maryland.³¹ This exemption applies only if:

a. The non-resident employer has workers' compensation insurance in the other state which covers the worker in Maryland; and
b. The other state has reciprocal statutory provisions exempting a Maryland employer and employee from that state's workers' compensation law under the same circumstances.³²

The following factors are relevant in determining whether the employment in Maryland was temporary or intermittent:

a. Where the worker was hired.
b. Whether the employment arrangement contemplated a regular presence in Maryland.
c. The nature of the employer's work.
d. The scope and purpose of the hiring.
e. The duration of the employment.
f. The consistency of the employee's work in Maryland.
g. Representations made by the employer as to where the employee would be working.³³

B. Injuries Occurring Outside Maryland

1. When Act does not apply

The Act does not apply to an employee who is employed "wholly without the state,"³⁴ as long as there was no expectation that they would work in Maryland in the future.³⁵

2. Exception to when Act does not apply

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT § 9-203(a)(3) contains an exception which makes the Maryland Act applicable where the employment contract was entered into in Maryland for work to be performed entirely "outside of the United States."

3. When Act does apply

The Act does apply to injuries occurring outside the state if:

a. The employment outside Maryland is only casual, occasional or incidental, and
b. The employee is regularly employed in Maryland.³⁶

In determining whether work outside the state is casual, occasional, or incidental, the amount of work in Maryland should be compared to the amount of work in each state individually rather than the sum total of work in all the outside states.³⁷ Employment in Maryland for two to three months during the course of a year, compared to nine to ten months employment in another state, is not sufficient to constitute the "regular" employment required...