Hurt at work in Chester, Midlothian, or anywhere else in Chesterfield County? Virginia workers’ comp can pay for your medical treatment and part of your lost wages, but only if your accident meets the legal test and your claim is filed on time. Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims, only for injured workers.
Our office is close: 8010 Ridge Road, Suite A, in Richmond. We meet there by appointment, and we can meet by phone or video if the trip is hard while you recover. Your first consultation is free. Call 804-505-0633 or use the form on this page.
What Are the First Rules for a Workers’ Comp Claim?
A Virginia workers’ comp claim from Chester, Midlothian, or Bon Air follows the same rules as a claim from anywhere else in the state. These rules decide whether you get anything at all:
- Who is covered: Virtually all employers with three or more employees regularly in service in Virginia are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Being called an independent contractor doesn’t always settle it. What matters most is whether the company has the right to control how the work is done.
- What you have to show: that your injury arose out of and in the course of your employment, and that it was caused by an identifiable incident at a reasonably definite time that produced a sudden mechanical or structural change to your body.
- Notice: give your employer written notice of the accident within 30 days, although exceptions exist (Va. Code § 65.2-600).
- Filing: Your claim must be on file with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of your date of accident, although exceptions apply. File it even if the insurance company is already paying you (Va. Code § 65.2-601).
- Fault: it doesn’t matter whether your employer caused the accident. Your own conduct can matter, for example willful misconduct or willfully breaking a known safety rule.
Here’s how to file a workers’ comp claim, step by step.
What Jobs and Injuries Are Common in Chesterfield?
Retail and health care are the county’s two largest industries, with close to 20,000 workers each, and transportation and warehousing comes third, according to the state’s Virginia Works community profile. The profile’s list of the 50 largest employers includes:
- Warehouse and delivery: Amazon Fulfillment Services, Amazon Logistics, UPS, and Federal Express
- Health care: Bon Secours, HCA Virginia, and West End Orthopaedic Clinic
- Stores: Walmart, Kroger, Food Lion, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s
- Construction and industrial contractors: Atlantic Constructors, Whiting-Turner, and Industrial Turnaround Corp
- Manufacturing: DuPont Specialty Products, Hill Phoenix, and LEGO Manufacturing Richmond
Sudden injuries we see from work like this include:
- Back and shoulder injuries from one specific lift: a heavy box off a conveyor, a tote into a van, a patient in a bed
- Falls from loading docks, ladders, and the back of delivery trucks
- Forklift and pallet jack accidents
- Crashes while driving a delivery van or truck for work
- Slips on wet floors in stores, kitchens, and hospital hallways
- Falls and crush injuries on construction and plant shutdown jobs
Warehouse back injuries are among the hardest to prove. The insurance company may say the pain built up over weeks of lifting, or that your spine was already worn. Note the package or patient you were moving, the time, and the person you told, and give the first doctor you see the same account.
More on car crashes while working, construction accidents, and back injuries at work.
Where Are Workers’ Comp Disputes Decided?
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission decides disputes over workers’ comp claims that the parties don’t settle (Va. Code § 65.2-700). Its headquarters is across the river in Richmond at 333 E. Franklin St., and the Commission lists that address as both a hearing location and a mediation location. It lists no hearing location in the county itself (Commission locations).
The Commission’s locations page does not say which cases are heard where. Its rules also provide for hearings by video over Webex (16VAC30-50-30). You can ask the Commission for a hearing no matter what the insurance company decides. The insurance company will have a lawyer at that hearing. Here’s what to do if your claim is denied.
What Does Workers’ Comp Pay?
- Wage checks while you can’t work: If a doctor says you cannot return to work at all for a temporary period because of your injuries, you may receive two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly wage, up to a maximum weekly compensation rate.
- Wage checks on light duty at lower pay: two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn now, up to the weekly maximum.
- Medical treatment: the insurance company is required to pay for treatment that is reasonable, necessary, and causally related to the accident. That doesn’t mean it will. Your employer must offer a panel of at least three doctors, and you choose one.
- Permanent partial disability: a set number of weeks of pay for a permanent loss of use of certain body parts, based on a doctor’s rating.
- Death benefits: These benefits can pay for a limited amount of funeral expenses, medical bills incurred before the death, and lost wages for certain periods of time for certain survivors or dependents who meet statutory criteria.
Workers’ comp does not pay for pain and suffering. More on what workers’ comp covers in Virginia.
What Should I Bring to a Consultation?
Bring whatever you have. None of it is required before you call.
- Medical records, work notes, and visit summaries
- Medical bills
- Anything from your employer: the accident report, the list of doctors you were given, emails or texts about the injury
- Letters or emails from the insurance company
- Anything from the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Do You Take Cases From the Rest of the County?
Yes. We take cases from Chester, Midlothian, Bon Air, Ettrick, Chesterfield Court House, Brandermill, Enon, and the rest of the county. Nearby, see our pages for Richmond, Powhatan County, and Hanover County.
Pathfinder Injury Law focuses only on Virginia state workers’ compensation. If you’re a federal employee, a railroad worker, or a shipyard or port worker, or if you were hurt in another state, your claim may fall under a different system. Give us a call anyway. We’ll help you figure out where your claim belongs, and if it isn’t one we handle, we’ll point you to a lawyer who does.
Talk to Us About Your Claim
Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims. Call 804-505-0633 or fill out the form on this page.
