Savannah Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Fight for Your Benefits

Georgia, like all of the other states, has a body of law known as workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is basically two types of insurance, mandated by the State of Georgia. The first type of insurance is health insurance for your on the job injury. Same pays 100% of your medical bills for an on the job injury unless you had alcohol or drugs in your system. Note that Georgia allows a blood test immediately after your injury, and you must comply with same or lose your benefits. To get medical care, you can go to any facility when you have an emergency, such as an emergency room or urgent care, and workers’ comp will pay for same. Once the initial emergency is over, you have to be treated by medical providers set forth in a panel of physicians. The panel of physicians is the list of medical providers which agree to accept Georgia’s workers’ compensation rates, and which the employer has posted at the work facility. When we say workers’ compensation rates, Georgia has statutory rates to pay medical providers who accept workers’ compensation cases in Georgia. This is just like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc., have set rates for various services rendered by medical providers. 

The second part of workers’ compensation insurance is what is known as indemnity, or wage benefits. You are owed two thirds of your average weekly wage. The average weekly wage or AWW is calculated by the average of the prior thirteen weeks of work. If you have not worked for thirteen weeks, a similar employee would be used to determine same. You do not get indemnity or wage benefits if you miss less than one week of work. If you miss more than one week of work, your wage benefits start after you have missed a certain amount of work. However, same is only two thirds of your average weekly wage. 

Workers’ compensation benefits are paid whether an accident is your fault or the fault of your employer. Employees cannot sue their employer for their injury and employers cannot defend or deny claims because it is the employee’s fault. However, if it is the fault of a third party, i.e., someone other than the employee or the employer, the employee (you) can file a regular lawsuit against that third party for your injuries. This would be just like filing a claim for an automobile accident or a medical malpractice claim. Thus, while workers’ compensation only pays set benefits, and has no claim for pain and suffering and no jury trial, your third-party claim would have a claim for pain and suffering and an eventual jury trial if it could not be settled. 

If you have a significant on the job injury, especially one involving surgery, your employer will likely not want you to return to work. Your supervisors, even though not being told anything, will know that they need to fire you, if you return to work following a significant injury, because you are more prone to being injured again due to that preexisting condition. Thus, they will nitpick whether you follow their policies and procedures. A simple example, which we see time and time again, is that employees are allowed to come in a little late or leave a little early or take a lengthier lunch whenever they want. However, after an accident on the job, and significant medical treatment for same, you return to work and are fired shortly thereafter for coming in late or leaving early. The law is clear that the failure to enforce policies and procedures is not a waiver of same. Thus, policies and procedures can be enforced after one returns to work. If you are fired for a reason, other than your injury, you then lose your indemnity or wage benefits.