Hurt at work in Portsmouth? Whether it happened in a hospital, a store, a warehouse, or on a job site, Virginia workers’ comp can cover your medical care and part of the paycheck you lose while you heal. It pays only when the accident fits the law’s definition and the claim is filed in time. Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims, and only for injured workers.
We do not have an office in Portsmouth. You can meet with us by phone or video, or at our Richmond office by appointment. Your first consultation is free. Call 804-505-0633 or use the form on this page.
Which Rules Decide a Workers’ Comp Claim First?
Every claim under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act starts with the same few rules, and missing one can end a claim before anyone looks at your injury:
- 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.
Step-by-step help: how to file a workers’ comp claim.
Who Works in Portsmouth, and How Do They Get Hurt?
Government is the biggest employer by far. Of about 42,900 jobs counted in the city in the third quarter of 2025, about 18,000 were government jobs, and about 13,700 of those were federal, according to the state’s Virginia Works community profile. The U.S. Department of Defense is first on the state’s list of the largest local employers, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, despite its name, is located here.
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.
Among private employers, health care is the largest industry, with about 5,600 jobs. Others on the state’s list include:
- Health care: Bon Secours, Aya Healthcare, Pines Residential Treatment, and Portside Health & Rehab Center
- Ship repair and marine construction: Fairlead Integrated, Crofton Diving, and East Coast Repair & Fabrication
- Trucking and delivery: Schneider National, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales, and U-Haul
- Stores: Food Lion, Walmart, Kroger, Lowe’s, and Wawa
- Public employers: the city, its public schools, and Tidewater Community College
Work like this leads to sudden injuries such as:
- A fall from a ladder, a roof edge, or a work platform
- A hand or arm pinned by a machine, a load, or a vehicle
- A cut, burn, or eye injury from a grinder, torch, or saw
- A slip on a wet hospital or store floor
- A patient lift or transfer that goes wrong
- A crash in a box truck, rental truck, or delivery van
- A back or neck injury from one specific lift, twist, or fall
Back and spine injuries get the hardest look. The insurance company may argue that the pain built up over years of work, or that it comes from an old degenerative condition rather than one event at work. Your claim is stronger when the record points to a single moment: what you were doing, when it happened, and who you told. Write it down while you still remember it.
A crash caused by another driver may also give you a separate injury claim against that driver, on top of workers’ comp. More on back injuries at work, spine injuries at work, construction accidents, and car accidents at work.
Where Would a Workers’ Comp Dispute Be Heard?
When the parties can’t settle a dispute over a workers’ comp claim, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission decides it (Va. Code § 65.2-700). The Commission has no location in the city. Its nearest regional office is in Virginia Beach at 281 Independence Blvd., Suite 310, which it lists as both a hearing location and a mediation location. Across the water, it also lists a hearing location at 22 Lincoln St. in Hampton (Commission locations).
That list doesn’t say which cases go where, and the Commission’s rules allow hearings by video over Webex (16VAC30-50-30). Whatever the insurance company decides, you can ask the Commission for a hearing, and the insurance company will send a lawyer to it. If your claim has been turned down, start with what to do after a denial.
What Can Workers’ Comp Pay For?
- 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.
- 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.
It does not pay for pain and suffering. See what workers’ comp covers in Virginia and how the weekly checks are calculated.
What Should You Gather Before We Talk?
None of this is required before you call. If we meet by phone or video, you can send copies.
- Doctor’s notes, work restrictions, and visit summaries
- Bills from hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies
- Your employer’s accident report and the list of doctors it gave you, plus any texts or emails about the injury
- Anything the insurance company has sent you
- Any letter or form from the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Do You Take Cases From Churchland, Cradock, and Nearby Cities?
Yes. We take cases from every part of the city, including Olde Towne, Port Norfolk, Park View, Cradock, and Churchland, and from the rest of the Southside. See our pages for Chesapeake, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach.
Talk to Us About Your Claim
Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims, and only for injured workers. Call 804-505-0633 or use the form on this page.
