If you are injured while at work in Georgia, your injury is covered under Georgia’s Workers’ Compensation Act (O.C.G.A. § 34-9). This section of Georgia law covers everything from replacing your income if you are unable to work, to the types of medical treatment you are authorized to receive. The State Board of Workers’ Compensation is the entity that is charged with enforcing the Georgia workers’ compensation act.
In Georgia, all claims are filed electronically through a system called ICMS. It is the responsibility of your employer, or their insurance company, to file a claim with the State Board when they are notified of a work injury. If the employer/insure fail to file a claim, it is possible to file yourself, but it can be a daunting task, and is best handled by an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.
Following a work injury in Georgia, you have 1 year from the date of the accident to file a claim. In practice, the faster you file a claim following a work injury, the better the outcome will usually be.
Georgia is an at-will employment state. This means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time and for almost any reason. (Examples of reasons you can not be terminated include your sex, race, religious beliefs, and a few other exceptions based on federal law). Thus, you technically can be terminated for filing a workers’ compensation claim. In reality, most employers will not terminate someone solely for being injured on the job.
A workers’ compensation lawyer’s main job to ensure that the employer/insurer provide all of the benefits to the injured worker allowed under law. This includes ensuring the injured worker receives a replacement for any lost income and receives any appropriate medical treatment indicated by their treating physician.
Every workers’ compensation claim is different, which makes it difficult to evaluate the worth of a claim without knowing specific facts. That being said, in 2022, there were more than 120,000 workers’ compensation claims filed and insurance companies paid out more than $1.5 billion dollars in benefits for those claims. (https://sbwc.georgia.gov/organization/about-state-board-workers-compensation/statistics). Thus, in 2022, an average of approximately $12,500 was paid on each claim. Understand this is just an average, as our firm has settled workers’ compensation claims ranging from $3,000 to $7.95 million dollars.
There are 3 main benefits available to an employee has been injured at work. These are income replacement benefits, medical benefits, and permanent impairment benefits.
You can see your personal doctor for a work injury, but you will be required to pay for any treatment made by your personal doctor yourself, unless previously authorized by the employer/insurer. Under Georgia’s workers’ compensation act, the employer/insurer are required to provide a list of at least 6 unassociated physicians. This list is called the panel of physicians. The injured worker can pick any physician from the panel, and the employer/insurer are required to pay for any reasonable and necessary treatment recommended by this authorized physician. The chosen physician thus becomes the “authorized treating physician.” The authorized treating physician can arrange for referrals to specialists if the injury requires, and any necessary treatment recommended by a specialist is required to be paid for by the employer/insurer.
An injured worker is allowed a one-time switch from the original physician chosen from the panel of physicians, to another physician listed on the panel, for any reason. Any further changes in treating physician have to be done via an Order from the State Board.
The most important times during a workers’ compensation claim are the first days, or weeks, following a work accident. As such, it is imperative that you speak with an experienced Georgia workers’ compensation lawyer as soon as possible following any work injury. Workers Compensation Lawyers in Carrollton, GA (swslawfirm.com)
The experienced attorneys at SWS Accident & Injury Lawyers can make sure you receive the maximum compensation possible following a work injury in Georgia. Give us a call today at 770-214-2500 for a free consultation today.
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