Workers' Compensation

The purpose of the Workers' Compensation Act is to provide compensation to an employee for the loss of their 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. Once an employee reports a job-related injury, the supervisor or department personnel must immediately file the Employer's Accident Report Form.

When an injury happens at work:

1. 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. Please note:
   • Follow-up treatment must be provided by a panel physician. 
   • Medical care administered at Schiffert Health Center is not approved for Worker's Compensation.
2. Upon notification of the accident or illness, the department is required to offer the employee a panel of physicians. The employee must select a physician from the panel of physicians for treatment. Employees must sign and return the appropriate Panel of Physicans Form.
   • Blacksburg/Roanoke Panel of Physicians form 
   • Greater Washington, D.C., area Panel of Physicians form
   • Other departments not located in the Blacksburg, Roanoke or Greater Washington D.C., employees should go to Careworks and search for a listing of physicians in their area. Once they select a physician, the employee should complete and sign the Panel of Physicians Form; employees may use either form above. 
3. The department must submit the employee-signed Panel of Physicians form to the Division of Human Resources via the secure HR dropbox.
4. The supervisor or department personnel must immediately file the Employer's Accident Report Form. See this page for instructions for completing the report form. A username and password are not required; select "Continue without logging in."

After a work-related injury is reported:

Once the Employer's Accident Report Form is 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 (use passphrase 23219) should be used for all valid Workers' Compensation related prescriptions.

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

For reimbursement, pharmacy receipts must be submitted to: Division of Human Resources, Attn: Workers Compensation team

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 to their departmental supervisor medical documents and/or job duty restrictions as authorized by the panel physcian. The supervisor must submit these to the Division of Human Resources Workers' Compensation team. Please submit job restrictions in a timely manner, as claim approval decisions often hinge on these documents. This is especially important if the employee has been given restrictions requiring accomodations by their doctor, as these must go through Virginia Tech's ADA and Accessibility interactive process.

Return to Work

Commonwealth of Virginia 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. As part of this process, the Return to Work Release form must be completed by the employees treating panel physician.

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 Office of Workers' Compensation for the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Frequently Asked Questions page.