Always have your lawyer present at your first interview with the vocational rehabilitation specialist. One of the main purposes of vocational rehabilitation counselors is to wear down the worker and harass the worker to the extent that he or she becomes willing to settle the workers’ compensation claim cheaply. They create a lot of busy work for the injured employee. Vocational rehabilitation counselors will, for instance, send workers in search of jobs that they know the workers are not qualified to perform. They will send them letters saying “I’ve attempted to contact you by phone several times” and, in fact, have not actually contacted you at all by phone. Hopefully, this first meeting with the lawyer will help discourage the vocation rehabilitation worker from unprofessional activities and make the vocational rehabilitation a little bit easier for the injured employee.
The Injured Workers Law Firm is a Richmond, Virginia based firm solely focused on serving clients with workers' compensation claims in Virginia. If you have questions about your benefits or if you would like more information on the Virginia Workers’ Compensation system, order our book, “The Ultimate Guide to Workers’ Compensation in Virginia” , or call our office today (804) 755-7755.