Workers' Compensation

Employers with three or more employees are required to carry worker’s compensation insurance. This insurance coverage covers injuries suffered from most work related accidents.

As a general rule, the employer is required to provide you with medical care for treatment for work related injuries. The employer does this through doctors listed on the Posted Panel of Physicians. You choose from the Posted Panel which doctor you want to treat you. We strongly encourage you to obtain a copy of the Posted Panel of Physicians when you are injured. If you cannot obtain a copy, we suggest that you write down the doctors listed on the Panel along with their addresses. The makeup of the posted panel can have an impact upon the doctor you choose for treatment.

If you are injured on the job, your first duty is to report the accident and injury to your employer. The law does not require a written report, although your employer may want you to provide one. All the law requires is that you report your injury to your supervisor. If, at the time of the accident, you do not realize that you were injured, you have up to 30 days from the date of the accident to report your injury. Additionally, an aggravation of a previous injury can be treated as a new accident.

If you need medical care you MUST go to a doctor that is listed on your employer’s Posted Panel of Physicians unless it is an emergency. We strongly encourage you to either obtain a copy of the Posted Panel or write down the complete names and addresses of the doctors listed on the panel. If it is later found that your employer does not have a proper Posted Panel, then he loses the right to choose the doctor and that choice becomes yours.

If your injury disables you so that you cannot work, then you might be entitled to receive compensation for your time out of work. However, in all cases, you do not receive disability pay for the first 7 days until you have been disabled for 21 days. Once you have been disabled for 21 days the employer must pay you for the first 7 days of disability.

For other information on your rights under the Georgia Worker’s Compensation Laws, contact us at 770-943-3737.

You may also obtain additional information from the State Board of Worker’s Compensation web page located at: http://sbwc.georgia.gov/02/sbwc/home/0,2235,11394008,00.html.