WHY YOU MUST REPORT EVERY ACCIDENT ON THE JOB IN VIRGINIA
As a workers' compensation lawyer, I have seen this scenario many times: a worker injured himself or herself at work, thinks nothing of it, and continues to work. Weeks later or maybe months later the problem gets worse and the injured worker tries to report an accident and it is denied. What is the problem?
1. Many employers have a rule requiring immediate reporting of an accident.
2. The Virginia Workers' Compensation Act requires reporting to an employer in 30 days.
3. Sometimes, if an accident is initially considered trivial, the Commission may forgive the initial
reporting requirement (but this is tough to prove).
4. The Commission is seldom forgiving when it comes to a failure to report a back injury.
5. If you wait a long time to report an accident and you wait a long time to go to a doctor, it can be
very difficult for the doctor to connect the dots between the accident and the impairment.
Conclusion: report anything that might be considered an accident immediately to your employer. Do not delay in going to the doctor!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus (804) 358-4766 or visit our website at
Virginia Workers Compensation Lawyer.
This is excellent information, but it worries me a bit because we haven't reported my back injury and it's been a couple of weeks. Are there any remedies for this? I don't think we're going to be able to pay for my medical care and it was definitely because of the negligence of my employer. I think we could have a good worker's comp case if we filed. I hope it's not too late. http://www.nccompspecialist.com/Worker-s-Compensation/
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