Highlights of New Laws for 2018

Bills that Passed:

• HB 1023 Foreign subpoenas; issuance by circuit court clerk of court. 
  Provides that no foreign subpoena issued in the Commonwealth pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (§ 8.01-412.8 et seq.) may be issued by any person other than the applicable circuit court clerk of court in the Commonwealth. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
• SB 545 Court reporters or court reporting services provider; prohibited actions, civil penalties. 
  Establishes ethical standards and requirements for the provision of court reporting services, including prohibiting providers of court reporting services from (i) entering into contracts for more than one case, action, or legal proceeding with a party to an action, insurance company, third-party administrator, or any other person or entity that has a financial interest in the case, action, or legal proceeding; (ii) giving an economic advantage to one side that is not offered to the other; (iii) having a financial interest in the action; (iv) entering into an agreement for court reporting services that restricts an attorney from using the court reporter or court reporting services provider of the attorney’s choosing; (v) allowing the format, content, or body of a certified transcript as submitted by the court reporter to be manipulated in a manner that increases the cost of the transcript; and (vi) providing additional advocacy or litigation support services. The bill provides that a person harmed by a violation of these standards may file a complaint with the administrative body, court, or administrative tribunal in which the action upon which the legal proceeding is based is pending or scheduled to be heard. The bill provides that the court reporter or court reporting services provider alleged to have violated such standards shall be given notice and a right to be heard on any such complaint, with the right of appeal or review. The bill further provides that a person who violates these standards is subject to a civil penalty of $500 for a first offense, $750 for a second offense, and $1,000 for a third and any subsequent offense, which shall be paid to the state treasury and credited to the Legal Aid Services Fund within the Virginia State Bar fund.
• HB 82 Workers’ compensation; Uninsured Employer’s Fund, financing tax. 
  Repeals an enactment clause that provides that the maximum tax rate that may be assessed on insurance carriers or self-insured employers for the purpose of funding workers’ compensation benefits that are awarded against uninsured employers from the Uninsured Employer’s Fund will revert from 0.5 percent to 0.25 percent on July 1, 2018. Repealing the enactment will maintain the maximum rate at its current level of 0.5 percent.
• HB 117 Workers’ Compensation Commission; quorum. 
  Provides that the commissioners of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, for purposes of constituting a quorum, shall include any deputy commissioner or retired commissioner who is appointed or recalled, respectively, to fill a vacancy on the Commission.
• HB 531 Workers’ compensation; proof of coverage information. 
  Removes the provision that prevents the Workers’ Compensation Commission from aggregating proof of coverage information filed with the Commission by an insurance carrier or rate service organization on behalf of an employer with the proof of coverage information filed by or on behalf of other employers.
• HB 558 Workers’ Compensation; employer’s liability for medical services provided outside the Commonwealth. 
  Clarifies that the “medical community,” when referring to providers of medical services rendered under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act outside of the Commonwealth, shall be determined by the zip code of the principal place of business of the employer if located in the Commonwealth. If the employer’s principal place of business is not in the Commonwealth, then it shall be determined by the zip code of the location where the Workers’ Compensation Commission would conduct its hearing regarding a dispute concerning the medical services.

Bills that Failed:

• HB 416 Workers’ compensation; audits of employer’s premises. 
  Prohibits an insurer or its agent or employee from conducting an audit, inspection, or other review at the insured employer’s premises unless accompanied by and under the supervision of an employee of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, or unless the employer consents.
• HB 460 Workers’ compensation; retaliatory discharge of employee. 
  Prohibits an employer or other person from discharging an employee if the discharge is motivated to any extent by knowledge or belief that the employee has filed a claim or taken or intends to take certain other actions under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act. Currently, retaliatory discharges are prohibited only if the employer or other person discharged an employee solely because the employee has taken or intends to take such an action.
• HB 461 Workers’ compensation; employer to notify employee of intent to accept or deny claim. 
  Requires an employer whose employee has filed a claim under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act to advise the employee whether the employer intends to accept or deny the claim. If the employer is unable to make such a determination because it lacks sufficient information from the employee, the employer shall so state and identify the needed additional information. If the employer intends to deny the claim, it shall provide the reasons.
• HB 462 Workers’ compensation; foreign injuries. 
  Provides that an injured employee is eligible for benefits under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act when a compensable accident happens while the employee is employed outside Virginia if (i) the employment contract was not expressly for services exclusively to be performed outside Virginia and (ii) either the employer’s place of business is in Virginia or the employee regularly performs work on the employer’s behalf in Virginia.
• HB 472 Workers’ compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. 
  Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act when firefighters and certain employees develop the cancer. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty.
• HB 969 Workers’ compensation; statutory employers, exclusions. 
  Provides that a person, including an owner, contractor, or subcontractor, who contracts with another person to perform work is not required to insure payment of workers’ compensation benefits to the subcontractor, and is not liable for any injury sustained by the other person, if the person is not an employer subject to the compensation provisions of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act or otherwise required to insure the payment of compensation to the subcontractor’s employees.
• HB 1245 Workers’ compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. 
  Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act when firefighters and certain employees develop the cancer. The measure removes the compensability requirement that the employee who develops cancer had contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty.
• HB 1543 Workers’ compensation; tolling of statute of limitations. 
  Provides that the two-year statute of limitations for filing workers’ compensation claims is tolled during the period the employer pays compensation or wages or furnishes medical service to the employee.
• HB 107 Workers’ compensation; disease presumptions, correctional officers. 
  Adds correctional officers to the list of public safety employees who are entitled to a presumption that hypertension and heart disease and certain infectious diseases are occupational diseases compensable under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act.