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What the Injured Worker Gets

We in Virginia have a workers Compensation Law. It provides for the payment of medical expenses to the injured worker, plus it pays the injured worker 2/3rds of his/her salary during the time the worker is unable to work due to the injury. It also provides for the payment on a set formula for a permanent loss. such as the loss of a hand, finger, etc. Nothing is paid for pain, suffering, etc.

These benefits are far from generous. I think that the payments are close to the lowest in th country. The system is supposedly set up to get payments out without the intervention of a lawyer. So it an accident occurs, and there is an injury, and it appears that the injury is "compensable" (more on what that means later), payment must be by the workers compensation carrier of the employer. For the last 10 years insurance carriers have made it a policy to just do nothing. This puts the onus on the employee to make a claim with the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (VWCC). In order to do that the employee must file a claim form with medical records which justify the disability. Although the policy of the law is otherwise, this brings these cases into a legal systen.

We lawyers for inured workers find that VWCC claims involve the same amount of legal attention as auto accident law suits. Again, this is contrary to the aim of the law. Lawyers tend to avoid getting involved unless there has been a horrific injury. In many, many cases, the injured employee is on his/her own. Usually, the opponent is an experienced workers' compensation lawyer. It's like shooting fish in a barrell.


Michael S. Weisberg, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Email: info@weislaw.com
www.weislaw.com