After she received her law degree in 1974, she served as assistant counsel to the majority of the U.S. Senate Public Works Committee, chaired by Senator Jennings Randolph. She returned to West Virginia to work as a law clerk to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. In 1976, she served as an advance person in the Carter Presidential Campaign, and she later worked on the campaign staff of U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller. She then opened her own law office in Charleston.

        In 1981, Justice Workman became the youngest circuit court judge in the state when then-Governor Jay Rockefeller appointed her to the Kanawha County Circuit Court. She ran for the unexpired term in 1982 and the full term in 1984. As a circuit judge, Justice Workman inherited West Virginia's largest backlog of cases and during her tenure on the court reduced it to the lowest level in the judicial circuit. She held more jury trials than any other Circuit Judge in the state during the same period. She also visited every prison and secure juvenile correctional facility in West Virginia.

        After her election to the Supreme Court in 1988, Justice Workman served as Chief Justice in 1993 and 1997. In her capacity as Chief Justice, Justice Workman fostered a close working relationship between the court system and domestic violence programs, and she visited many shelters to learn how the court system could be more effective in addressing domestic violence. Justice Workman created the Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts and the Task Force on the Future of the Judiciary. She formed the Broadwater Committee, which made reforms in the court system's response to children's issues and spearheaded the development of rules governing child abuse and neglect cases.