Workers' Compensation

The purpose of the Workers' Compensation Act is to provide compensation to an employee for the loss of his or her opportunity to engage in work when the disability is occasioned by an injury suffered from an accident arising out of and during the course of their employment.

Reporting Work-Related Injuries

Injured employees are required to immediately report an accident or illness to their direct supervisor. Upon the notification of the accident or illness, the department is required to offer the employee a panel of physicians:

• On-campus departments: The employee must select a physician from the panel of physicians for treatment by completing the Panel of Physicians Form.
• Extended campus departments: Fill in all of the required information online to receive a listing of physicians in your area and have the employee select a physician by completing the Panel of Physicians Form.

The department must submit the signed Panel Physician Selection form to the Division of Human Resources via email, mail, or fax.

Employees needing immediate medical treatment for serious injuries may visit an emergency room and should report the injury as Workers' Compensation at the time treatment is received. Follow-up treatment must be provided by a panel physician. Please note that medical care administered at Schiffert Health Center is not approved for Worker's Compensation.

Once an employee reports a job-related injury, the supervisor or department personnel must immediately file the Employer's Accident Report Form.

Instructions for completing the Employer's Accident Report Form are available. A username and password are not required, simply select "Continue without logging in."

Once this has been submitted, it will be received by the Virginia Tech Worker's Compensation team. A member of the team will process and submit it to MC Innovations, the third-party insurance company that handles Worker's Compensation for state agencies within the Commonwealth of Virginia. At this point, a claims adjuster from MC Innovations will be assigned to handle the claim.

Prescriptions

For approved Workers' Compensation claims, injured employees will be reimbursed for prescription costs. A pharmacy card should be used for all valid Workers' Compensation related prescriptions. The passphrase is 23219.

To locate a participating pharmacy, visit the Alius Health website or call 844-661-4463.

Pharmacy receipts must be submitted to the Division of Human Resources, Attn: Teresa Lyons, for reimbursement. Cash register receipts will not suffice for reimbursement. A document signed by the pharmacist showing patient information, medication name, prescribing doctor, amount prescribed, and the prescription cost will be an acceptable alternative to a pharmacy receipt.

Job Restrictions

It is the employee's responsibility to submit medical documents and/or job duty restrictions as authorized by the panel doctor to their departmental supervisor. The supervisor must submit these to the Workers' Compensation Team within the Department of Human Resources at Virginia Tech. Please have these submitted in a timely manner, as claim approval decisions often hinge on these documents. This is especially important if the employee has been given restrictions by their doctor, as these must go through the ADA and Accessibility process for accommodations.

Return to Work

Executive Order (52) requires Virginia Tech to make every reasonable effort to return those employees to work who have sustained job-related injuries or illnesses and, as a result, are prevented from returning to their full former employment. Employees are returned to work on a transitional or full-time basis as soon as it is determined to be medically feasible. The return-to-work coordinator works closely with injured employees, treating physicians, and departments to facilitate transitional duty assignments until employees return to full employment or are released from medical care.

Non-medical injuries

Departments should submit the Employer's Accident Report as a "Record Only" even if medical treatment is not required at the time of injury. If something does change and medical attention is needed later, the employee must let the supervisor know promptly. The supervisor must then inform Human Resources.

For More Information

Visit the website for the Office of Workers' Compensation for the Commonwealth of Virginia at https://covwc.com/ as well as the FAQ page.