YOUR DUTY TO MARKET YOUR RESIDUAL WORK CAPACITY, I.E. LOOK FOR WORK, AFTER A WORK INJURY
You suffer an accident on the job. Your injuries are significant enough that your treating physician advises that you cannot continue your regular work. However, the doctor indicates that you can do certain light-duty employment and provides restrictions. The workers’ compensation insurance carrier is paying benefits or they have denied your claim and you have filed to be paid the benefits. You are either awaiting a hearing or waiting for the workers’ compensation insurance carrier to “investigate your claim”. In either instance, the Commission’s rules require that you market your residual work capacity, i.e. look for work within those restrictions imposed by your treating doctor. That means making at least five job contacts per week, logging on to job search websites, and registering with the Virginia Employment Commission. If you do not take those steps and document your efforts (such as completing the job search log that is included with this entry), your benefits could be denied or halted without notice to you, thus possibly preventing you from obtaining past benefits that may be due to you for weekly compensation.
If you find yourself in this situation, you should seek further guidance from the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys in our office.