Virginia
Two pasted documents below.
Vocational Rehabilitation Guidelines
The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission has issued these
guidelines for vocational rehabilitation with the hope that the
guidelines will provide better understanding between the parties,
facilitate appropriate vocational rehabilitation, and eliminate needless
conflict and litigation. Neither the Virginia Workers' Compensation
Act nor the regulations of the Commission have any provisions regarding
the licensure or certification of rehabilitation counselors. Therefore,
the Commission does no regulation on this point. Reference should be
made to the provisions of Title 54.1 referenced in Section
65.2-603(A)(3) of the Workers' Compensation Act.
1. THE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PLAN
A. Vocational rehabilitation services, including vocational
evaluation, counseling, job coaching, job development, job placement,
on-the-job training, education, and retraining, shall take into account
the employee's pre-injury job and wage classification; age, aptitude and
level of education; the likelihood of success in the new vocation; and
the relative costs and benefits of such services. Retraining should be
considered if job placement efforts are not successful, or the
employee's transferable skills are not readily marketable.
B. The provider should not ask the employee to engage in a job
search or vocational rehabilitation until he/she is medically released
for work. However, the provider may require the employee to meet in
order to assess the employee's potential for work, and to prepare
resumes and to schedule other appropriate actions, such as attending job
preparation training, in anticipation of employment.
C.The two goals of vocational rehabilitation are to restore the
employee to gainful employment, and to relieve the employer's burden of
future compensation. Rehabilitation providers should attempt to find
employment consistent with the employee's pre-injury position and salary
level, and the provider should take into account such factors as
distance, transportation costs, and actual anticipated earnings from the
potential job, when considering such alternative employment.
D.It is the rehabilitation provider's responsibility to assess
employment opportunities by direct contact with potential employers, and
to determine whether a suitable position is presently available that is
within the employee's restrictions and for which the employee is
qualified. Until such prescreening contacts have been made to purge
inappropriate leads, the provider should not ask the employee to attend
interviews, but the provider may ask the employee to complete resumes
and to attend job preparation training. The provider may ask the
employee to attend interviews for present employment opportunities where
it is anticipated that the employee will be released to such work
within a reasonably brief period.
Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission 1000 DMV Drive, Richmond,
VA 23220 Phone: 1-877-664-2566 Website:
http://www.workcomp.virginia.gov WebFile:
https://webfile.workcomp.virginia.gov
E. Telemarketing and commission sales positions are not appropriate
job placement, unless the employee has demonstrated aptitude or ability
in this line of work. Interviews with sheltered workshops and selective
employers who are subsidized by employers/carriers are also
inappropriate, if they do not provide the potential for legitimate
rehabilitation, such as learning work skills or restoring the employee
to a productive place in the labor market.
F. Requiring employees to look in newspapers, contact a specific
number of potential employers per week, check listings at the VEC, or
register with temporary services does not constitute appropriate
"vocational rehabilitation." However, an employee may volunteer to do
these activities. It would also be inappropriate for the rehabilitation
provider to impose a blanket requirement on the employee to submit all
job applications within twenty-four hours. It is not unreasonable for
the provider to request written confirmation of the employee's job
interviews or applications, where possible.
G. Rehabilitation providers may not advise the employee to withhold
information about his/her injury or job capabilities during job
interviews or on applications. However, the employee may not discuss
them in such a way as to sabotage the interview or application process.
H.Employees are not required to give rehabilitation providers
personal or financial information, such as number of children, spouse's
employment, or credit history, unless such information relates to a bona
fide occupational qualification for employment. An employee is required
to disclose whether he/she is legally eligible for employment, has a
valid driver's license, or has been convicted of a felony, and to
provide his/her previous employment history.
2. MEETINGS BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND PROVIDERS
A. Meetings should be held at reasonable times and places for both
the employee and provider. Employees are not required to invite
rehabilitation providers onto their property or into their homes. Also,
just as the employee must cooperate with reasonable demands of the
rehabilitation provider that are likely to return him/her to gainful
employment, the provider must make reasonable accommodation for the
employee's personal life.
B. Routine telephone contact should be made between 9:00 a.m. and
6:00 p.m. No calls should be made before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m.
except in cases of emergency.
C.The provider should give the employee advance notice, in writing,
of meetings between the rehabilitation provider and employee, and of
employment interviews. A minimum of five calendar days' notice of any
meeting or employment interview is suggested, except for exceptional
situations.
D.Prior to being released to light duty, the employee does not have
to seek employment. However, the employee must meet with the provider
to provide background information, to participate in an assessment of
functional capacities in anticipation of a work release, and to satisfy
other appropriate preparations for the vocational rehabilitation.
3. ROLE OF EMPLOYEE'S ATTORNEY
A. Employees have the right to have their attorney present at the
initial rehabilitation meeting. However, an attorney may not delay such a
meeting for more than two weeks nor can the attorney restrict contact
between the employee and rehabilitation provider.
B. An employee may consult with his/her attorney at any time.
Actions of the attorney will be imputed to the employee for the purposes
of considering whether the employee is cooperating.
4. MEDICAL ASPECTS OF REHABILITATION
A. Neither the rehabilitation provider nor the carrier can
medically manage the employee's treatment, by prescribing referrals,
limiting treatment options, or otherwise participating in determining
treatment unless requested by the physician.
B. Monitoring treatment is not medical management. With the consent
of the physician, the provider may meet with the doctor outside of the
employee's presence. The employee is not required to sign a consent
granting the provider access to the physicians. If the physician does
not wish to communicate with the provider, information may be obtained
by utilizing discovery rights.
C.The employee has the right to a private examination by and
consultation with the medical provider without the presence of the
rehabilitation provider.
D.In order to determine the work capacity of the employee, the
provider may require the employee to submit to a functional evaluation,
if approved and authorized by the employee's treating physician or an
independent medical examiner.
5. TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER COSTS
A. The employee is entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred
in rehabilitation efforts. This includes mileage costs for trips to the
VEC, rehabilitation meetings, obtaining or returning applications,
attending interviews, and other travel at the direction of the provider.
Costs incurred for telephone calls, photocopying, postage, and
obtaining DMV and other records are also reimbursable, if such are
requested by the rehabilitation provider or a potential employer.
B. When transportation is a problem, it is the responsibility of
the vocational rehabilitation provider/carrier to make reasonable
arrangements to insure the employee's attendance at meetings and
interviews. This may include forwarding mileage money in advance or
arranging appropriate alternative transportation, if requested.
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§ 65.2-603. Duty to furnish medical attention, etc., and vocational rehabilitation; effect of refusal of employee to accept.
A. Pursuant to this section:
1. As long as necessary after an accident, the employer shall
furnish or cause to be furnished, free of charge to the injured
employee, a physician chosen by the injured employee from a panel of at
least three physicians selected by the employer and such other necessary
medical attention. Where such accident results in the amputation or
loss of use of an arm, hand, leg, or foot or the enucleation of an eye
or the loss of any natural teeth or loss of hearing, the employer shall
furnish prosthetic or orthotic appliances, as well as wheelchairs,
walkers, canes, or crutches, proper fitting and maintenance thereof, and
training in the use thereof, as the nature of the injury may require.
In awards entered for incapacity for work, under this title, upon
determination by the treating physician and the Commission that the same
is medically necessary, the Commission may require that the employer
furnish and maintain (i) modifications to or equipment for the
employee's automobile or (ii) bedside lifts, adjustable beds, and
modification of the employee's principal home consisting of ramps,
handrails, or any appliances prescribed by the treating physician and
doorway alterations, provided that the aggregate cost of all such items
and modifications required to be furnished pursuant to clauses (i) and
(ii) on account of any one accident shall not exceed $42,000. The
employee shall accept the attending physician, unless otherwise ordered
by the Commission, and in addition, such surgical and hospital service
and supplies as may be deemed necessary by the attending physician or
the Commission.
2. The employer shall repair, if repairable, or replace dentures,
artificial limbs, or other prosthetic or orthotic devices damaged in an
accident otherwise compensable under workers' compensation, and furnish
proper fitting thereof.
3. The employer shall also furnish or cause to be furnished, at the
direction of the Commission, reasonable and necessary vocational
rehabilitation services; however, the employer shall not be required to
furnish, or cause to be furnished, services under this subdivision to
any injured employee not eligible for lawful employment.
Vocational rehabilitation services may include vocational
evaluation, counseling, job coaching, job development, job placement,
on-the-job training, education, and retraining. Those vocational
rehabilitation services that involve the exercise of professional
judgment as defined in § 54.1-3510 shall be provided by a certified
rehabilitation provider pursuant to Article 2 (§ 54.1-3510 et seq.) of
Chapter 35 of Title 54.1 or by a person licensed by the Boards of
Counseling; Medicine; Nursing; Optometry; Psychology; or Social Work or,
in accordance with subsection B of § 54.1-3513, by a person certified
by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) as a
certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) or a person certified by the
Commission on Certification of Work Adjustment and Vocational Evaluation
Specialists (CCWAVES) as a Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist
(CVE).
In the event a dispute arises, any party may request a hearing and
seek the approval of the Commission for the proposed services. Such
services shall take into account the employee's preinjury job and wage
classifications; his age, aptitude, and level of education; the
likelihood of success in the new vocation; and the relative costs and
benefits to be derived from such services.
B. The unjustified refusal of the employee to accept such medical
service or vocational rehabilitation services when provided by the
employer shall bar the employee from further compensation until such
refusal ceases and no compensation shall at any time be paid for the
period of suspension unless, in the opinion of the Commission, the
circumstances justified the refusal. In any such case the Commission may
order a change in the medical or hospital service or vocational
rehabilitation services.
C. If in an emergency or on account of the employer's failure to
provide the medical care during the period herein specified, or for
other good reasons, a physician other than provided by the employer is
called to treat the injured employee, during such period, the reasonable
cost of such service shall be paid by the employer if ordered so to do
by the Commission.
D. As used in this section and in § 65.2-604, the terms "medical
attention," "medical service," "medical care," and "medical report"
shall be deemed to include chiropractic service or treatment and, where
appropriate, a chiropractic
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treatment report.
E. Whenever an employer furnishes an employee the names of three
physicians pursuant to this section, and the employer also assumes all
or part of the cost of providing health care coverage for the employee
as a self-insured or under a group health insurance policy, health
services plan or health care plan, upon the request of an employee, the
employer shall also inform the employee whether each physician named is
eligible to receive payment under the employee's health care coverage
provided by the employer.
F. If the injured employee has an injury which may be treated
within the scope of practice for a chiropractor, then the employer or
insurer may include chiropractors on the panel provided the injured
employee.
(Code 1950, § 65-85; 1952, c. 385; 1960, cc. 310, 444, 580; 1964,
c. 366; 1966, c. 388; 1968, cc. 377, 660, § 65.188; 1970, c. 470; 1972,
c. 229; 1973, c. 542; 1975, c. 280; 1980, c. 600; 1982, c. 585; 1983, c.
471; 1987, cc. 455, 475; 1989, c. 540; 1990, c. 789; 1991, cc. 275,
355, 376; 1994, c. 558; 1997, c. 839; 1998, c. 65; 1999, c. 780; 2000,
cc. 473, 1018; 2004, c. 271; 2011, c. 656.)