An employer’s insurance coverage doesn’t pay for housekeeping services for workers injured on the job, according to a new ruling by Arizona’s Court of Appeals. But that’s not the case in all states.

A Phoenix police officer tripped over an electrical cord at work. She required knee and back surgery.

Afterward, she could only get around with crutches or a wheelchair.

Her doctor recommended that she be provided with housekeeping services, and she sought that as a benefit from her employer’s workers’ comp insurer.

The insurer fought the claim. The worker said housekeeping would be “other treatment” under state comp law. The court didn’t see it that way.

However, this isn’t the case in all states. California has awarded injured employees workers’ comp payments for housekeeping.

Court Cite: Patches v. City of Phoenix, Arizona Court of Appeals, No. 1 CA-IC 08-2008, 2/24/09.

Tags: back surgery, tripped, workers' compensation