Virginia HB 1042: Workers' compensation; time period for filing claim, certain cancers.

Bill Text

VIRGINIAACTSOFASSEMBLY--2022SESSION
CHAPTER497
An Act to amend and reenact § 65.2-406 of the Code of Virginia, relating to workers' compensation;
limitation upon filing a claim.
[H1042]
ApprovedApril11,2022
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §65.2-406 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§65.2-406. Limitation upon claim; diseases covered by limitation.
A. The right to compensation under this chapter shall be forever barred unless a claim is filed with
the Commission within one of the following time periods:
1. For coal miners' pneumoconiosis, three years after a diagnosis of the disease, as category 1/0 or
greater as classified under the current International Labour Office Classification of Radiographs of the
Pneumoconiosis, is first communicated to the employee or the legal representative of his estate or within
five years from the date of the last injurious exposure in employment, whichever first occurs;
2. For byssinosis, two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the employee or
within seven years from the date of the last injurious exposure in employment, whichever first occurs;
3. For asbestosis, two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the employee;
4. For symptomatic or asymptomatic infection with human immunodeficiency virus including
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, two years after a positive test for infection with human
immunodeficiency virus;
5. For diseases directly attributable to the rescue and relief efforts at the Pentagon following the
terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated
to the employee; or
6. For cancers listed in subsection C of § 65.2-402, two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first
communicated to the employee or within 10 years from the date of the last injurious exposure in
employment, whichever first occurs; or
7. For all other occupational diseases, two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first
communicated to the employee or within five years from the date of the last injurious exposure in
employment, whichever first occurs.
B. If death results from an occupational disease within any of such periods, the right to
compensation under this chapter shall be barred, unless a claim therefor is filed with the Commission
within three years after such death. The limitations imposed by this section as amended shall be
applicable to occupational diseases contracted before and after July 1, 1962, and § 65.2-601 shall not
apply to pneumoconiosis. The limitation on time of filing will cover all occupational diseases except:
1. Cataract of the eyes due to exposure to the heat and glare of molten glass or to radiant rays such
as infrared;
2. Epitheliomatous cancer or ulceration of the skin or of the corneal surface of the eye due to pitch,
tar, soot, bitumen, anthracene, paraffin, mineral oil, or their compounds, products or residues;
3. Radium disability or disability due to exposure to radioactive substances and X-rays;
4. Ulceration due to chrome compound or to caustic chemical acids or alkalies and undulant fever
caused by the industrial slaughtering and processing of livestock and handling of hides;
5. Mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos; and
6. Angiosarcoma of the liver due to vinyl chloride exposure.
C. A claim for benefits pursuant to subdivision A 6 made as a result of the diagnosis of a disease
listed in subsection C of § 65.2-402 shall be barred if the employee is 65 years of age or older,
regardless of the date of diagnosis, communication, or last injurious exposure in employment.
D. When a claim is made for benefits for a change of condition in an occupational disease, such as
advance from one stage or category to another, a claim for change in condition must be filed with the
Commission within three years from the date for which compensation was last paid for an earlier stage
of the disease, except that a claim for benefits for a change in condition in asbestosis must be filed
within two years from the date when diagnosis of the advanced stage is first communicated to the
employee and no claim for benefits for an advanced stage of asbestosis shall be denied on the ground
that there has been no subsequent accident. For a first or an advanced stage of asbestosis or
mesothelioma, if the employee is still employed in the employment in which he was injuriously
exposed, the weekly compensation rate shall be based upon the employee's weekly wage as of the date
of communication of the first or advanced stage of the disease, as the case may be. If the employee is
unemployed, or employed in another employment, the weekly compensation rate shall be based upon the
average weekly wage of a person of the same or similar grade and character in the same class of

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employment in which the employee was injuriously exposed and preferably in the same locality or
community on the date of communication to the em