If you have an accident on the job, then you should file for workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is an accident insurance program paid for by employers with benefits that include income, medical care, and rehabilitation. You receive these benefits while recovering from your injury. Workers’ compensation also provides benefits to dependents if the employee dies from work-related injuries.
In Georgia, generally, you must file a claim within 1 year of the date of the injury—or 1 year from the date you last received medical treatment for the job-related injury that was paid for by your employer. To do this, fill out Form WC-14 and file it with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. This claim protects the rights of employees. Workers’ compensation insurance covers employees from the first day on the job.
After 1992, income benefits are limited to 400 weeks, unless the claim qualifies for a “catastrophic” designation. Whether or not the injured worker has a disability has no bearing on whether or not they can receive income benefits past the 400 week cap. Workers compensation is required in Georgia. The state requires every business with 3 or more employees to have insurance. The 3 employee requirement includes both full-time and/or part-time employees.
You should report your injury immediately(read more about it here), to someone in authority. The incident can be reported to a supervisor, foreman, or boss. However, if you wait longer than 30 days, then you could risk losing your benefits.
Without timely notice, your employer might deny your workers’ compensation claim by saying that your injury occurred outside of work. The clock starts ticking to give notice after getting a diagnosis. However, a timely notice gives credibility to your claim.The statute of limitations for workers’ compensation claims is found in the Official Code of Georgia, annotated. If the claim is not filed within the statute of limitations, then you forfeit your rights to benefits.
In the state of Georgia, an employee has 1 year from the date of the injury—or 1 year from the date the injured worker last received medical treatment for the job-related injury that was paid for by the employer—to file a claim. Also, an injured worker may be able to file a claim within 1 year of the date they last worked, if they continued to work after the injury but were later forced to stop working due to the injury and its effects on their ability to work.
There are a handful of rare exceptions to this rule
For instance, if you are requesting a resumption of income benefits, you will have 2 years from the last date the last payment of income benefits “was actually made” to file a request for hearing seeking a resumption of income benefits.. If no claim is filed within the 2-year deadline of the date income benefits were “actually paid,” then the injured worker is forever barred from seeking additional income benefits because of that injury.
Also read: Why Staffing Firms in Monopolistic States Must Have Stop-Gap Liability Insurance?
