Welcome, Employers!
The Line of Duty Act (LODA) provides benefits to state employees, local government employees and volunteers who hold specified hazardous duty positions. By statute, LODA benefits must be provided.
A claim can be completed by a number of different people, including the participant, his or her family members, or a third party. Because employers have to complete and certify certain sections of the form, VRS recommends that you work with the applicant. Employers should forward the claim form to VRS within seven days of receiving it.
Employers are required by law to train LODA-eligible employees. The first training must happen within 30 days of being hired and then every two years thereafter. The LODA Overview for ParticipantsNew Window satisfies this training requirement. You can direct individual employees to this website to watch the recorded presentation or you can play it for a group of employees. LODA training in the Virginia Learning Center (COVLC) is also available to employers with access.
LODA Fund Participating Versus Non-Participating Employers
State agencies participate automatically in the Line of Duty Death and Health Benefits Trust Fund (commonly referred to as the LODA Fund), which is administered by the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). Localities were given the opportunity to opt out of the LODA Fund and provide their own source for funding the benefit. Localities that opted out are referred to as LODA Fund Non-participating Employers.
Your responsibilities under LODA and how you pay for the benefits you are required to provide depends on whether you are a LODA Fund participating employer or non-participating employer.
Participating Employers
The LODA Fund pays:
- LODA Health Benefits Plans premiums to the Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM)
- Funeral benefit payments to funeral homes, if requested
- Death benefit payments to survivors
- Retroactive health insurance reimbursements to individuals, as applicable
- Virginia State Police investigation fee
- VRS administrative fee: $3,750 per claim. If a claim is denied during the preliminary review period, the fee is $250. If the claim proceeds through the full review process, the cost is $3,750.
Eligibility Lists
Each spring, VRS asks participating employers to update its list of eligible employees and volunteers from the previous fiscal year.
Individuals inadvertently excluded in your LODA eligibility list may not be denied on this basis alone. Similarly, ineligible individuals included in your list and for whom a premium is paid will not be provided the benefit. Eligibility for LODA claims will be based on the definitions in the Code of Virginia and the facts of each individual case.
VRS will review the eligibility list and contact you with any questions. If a person has a change in his or her role, or if the definitions of various types of volunteers change, note it in the list you provide to VRS in the spring.
Contributions
Participating employers contribute to the LODA Fund annually. The VRS Board of Trustees approves the LODA Fund contribution rate, which is a per capita rate (an amount the employer or organization pays per eligible full-time participant).
New WindowView Contribution Rates New WindowView Cost by Personnel Type
Personnel Changes
Invoices reflect personnel as reported to VRS in the spring with your eligibility list. Notices to VRS regarding the addition or termination of employees throughout the year are not required for LODA Fund billing purposes. Payments remain the same throughout the year, regardless of any increase of decrease in the number of employees. Altered payments or payments for amounts other than the amount you are billed will not be accepted.
Methods of Payment
Submit LODA Fund contributions by check or Inter-Agency Transfer (IAT). Identify all LODA payments as Line of Duty Act (LODA) payments and include the invoice number and/or Fund Code 742. Payment is due within 30 days of the date the invoice is issued.
ImportantDo not submit LODA Fund payments with the monthly VRS contribution payments.
Virginia Retirement System
P.O. Box 361
Richmond, VA 23218-0361
- Make checks payable to Treasurer of Virginia — VRS
- Use Inter-Agency Transfer (IAT) with Fund Code 742 (for state agencies only)
Non-participating Employers
Employers Pay:
- LODA Health Benefits Plans premiums to the Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM)
- Funeral benefit payments to funeral homes, if requested
- Death benefit payments to survivors
- Retroactive health insurance reimbursements to individuals, as applicable
- Virginia State Police investigation fee
- VRS administrative fee: $3,750 per claim. If a claim is denied during the preliminary review period, the fee is $250. If the claim proceeds through the full review process, the cost is $3,750.
Not Sure?
Not sure if you are a LODA Fund participating or non-participating employer?
Forms & Publications
- opens pdfClaim for Line of Duty Act Benefits (LODA-01)
- opens pdfPhysician's Report (LODA-04)
- opens pdfEmployer Information for Line of Duty Act Benefits (LODA-05)
- opens pdfLODA Participant Guide
Other Resources
- external linkLine of Duty Act
