在工人赔偿索赔开始时评估司法辩护的重要性

当一个受伤的工人声称她遭受了工伤事故, 该公司在对索赔进行初步调查时必须考虑几项事项.  在进行这项调查时，时间是至关重要的, 不仅是为了保存证据，也是为了确定它是否可能是一个可行的索赔.  It is important for an employer to create a timeline of the alleged accident 和 the events that occur involving the injured worker thereafter.   在这个初步调查阶段, the business should consider a few key jurisdictional issues to determine whether there is jurisdiction for the alleged accident under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act.

It is critical to know when a supervisor or safety manager from the business was first notified of employee’s accident. 

重要的是，在Va代码下 §65.2-600, “every injured employee or her representative shall immediately on the occurrence of an accident or as soon thereafter as practicable, 向雇主发出或安排向雇主发出有关意外的书面通知.” 

下 §65.2-600 (D), no compensation or medical benefit shall be payable unless such written notice is given within thirty days after the occurrence of the accident or death, unless reasonable excuse is made to the satisfaction of the Commission for not giving such notice 和 the Commission is satisfied that the employer has not been prejudiced thereby.

然而，值得注意的是，在 §65.2- 600(E), no defect or inaccuracy in the notice shall be a bar to compensation unless the employer proves that her interest was prejudiced thereby.  雇主有时很难证明这种偏见.

An employer must consider whether the claim for benefits was filed with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the accident date.

下 §65.2-601, a claim must be filed within two years of the accident date or the injured worker’s right to compensation is forever barred.   Death benefits payable under the Act shall be payable only if: (i) death results from the accident, (ii)在事故发生后两年内，已根据本标题提出索赔, (三)死亡抚恤金的申请在死亡之日起两年内提出.

总有例外!   It is important to determine whether several tolling factors are applicable if the claim was filed more than two years after the accident date.

This tolling of the statute of limitations can occur after an employer’s action or non-action with respect to the report of an accident.  下 §65.2-602, in any case where an employer has received notice of an accident resulting in compensable injury to an employee as required by §65.2-600 和, 是否已进入奖项, 雇主已向丧失工作能力的劳动者支付赔偿金或者工资, 如§所定义 65.2-500 or 65.2-502, resulting from such injury or the employer has failed to file the report of said accident with the Virginia 工人的补偿 Commission as required by § 65.2-900, or otherwise has under a workers' compensation plan or insurance policy furnished or caused to be furnished medical service to such employee as required by § 65.2-603, the statute of limitations applicable to the filing of a claim shall be tolled until the last day for which such payment of compensation or wages or furnishment of medical services as described above is provided 和 that occurs more than six months after the date of accident.   然而, no such payment of wages or workers' compensation benefits or furnishment of medical service as described above occurring after the expiration of the statute of limitations shall apply to this provision. 雇主未提交首次报告的, the statute of limitations shall be tolled during the duration thereof until the employer filed the first report of accident as required by § 65.2-900.  适用以上一项以上收费规定的, 其中任何一种原因均应适用较长的收费期限.

受伤的工人是该企业的雇员吗?

The determination of whether a person was an employee or independent contractor at the time of the accident whittles down to the type 和 amount of control exerted by the business over the injured worker.  这是委员会根据事实作出的决定.  These criteria help the Commission determine a worker’s status: communications between worker 和 business, 工作时间表和轮班的规律性, 付款方式及频率, 企业提供给工人的设备, 到工地的交通方式, 工人可以随时自由地工作.

Were there other businesses onsite that date 和 was the injured worker working for that business instead?

The role of a particular business on a jobsite should be considered because it has impact on the classifications of general contractor 和 subcontractor roles.  If for some reason the subcontractor did not have workers’ compensation insurance at the time of the accident 和 the business is the general contractor, 该企业可能对该分包商的雇员的雇员的伤害负有责任.  下 §65.2-302, the statutory employer liability could attach 和 the business would be held responsible for benefits awarded to the injured worker.

在事故发生时，公司是否有两名以上的雇员?

该法案只适用于拥有两名或两名以上雇员的企业.  如果受伤的工人在一个只有两个或更少雇员的企业工作, 该法案不包括他/她的伤害，她也不能获得工人补偿福利.

The Act defines employees in a very specific way 和 carves out exclusions for certain types of persons associated with a business.  这些排除因素导致该法案规定的雇员数量减少.  例如, a person who is a sole member of an LLC does not count as an employee under the Act if he has not filed in writing a request to be included under the Act for his LLC business.

While there are many items to be considered when an accident happens at a business 和 when a claim for benefits is filed with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, 本文只强调了一些这样的注意事项.  Businesses should seek the advice of counsel when navigating the initial investigation 和 later defense of workers’ compensation claims.

克里Stolz 是一个现金网官网 & 科沃德律师专注于工人赔偿事务.