Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you suffered an injury on the job, Cruz & Associates can help you decide whether filing a workers’ comp claim is in your best interest. Workers’ compensation claims help protect employees if they suffer an injury while they are working.

What Can Georgia Workers’ Compensation Cover?

Workers’ compensation covers injuries that an employee may suffer while performing work responsibilities. The specific aspects that workers’ compensation can cover are medical expenses, a percentage of lost wages, and support for retraining if the injured party is unable to return to his or her previous job. If you are very seriously injured, disability benefits may also cover any money that you may lose in the future because of a reduction in the overall salary potential due to injury.

Temporary Disability Benefits

Georgia will give temporary total disability benefits to an employee who is unable to work for more than a week because of an injury. They will pay two-thirds of what the injured party’s weekly earnings before the injury. However, Georgia state law caps that weekly wage at $575 per week. You can keep receiving these benefits until you have healed or for a maximum of 400 weeks.

Georgia also offers temporary partial disabilities, which it awards when you are still able to work but are earning less than you usually do. It amounts to two-thirds of the difference between your usual weekly earnings and your weekly earnings after your injury. State law limits partial disability benefits to $383 each week. You can continue getting partial disability benefits until you have healed or for a maximum of 350 weeks.

Permanent Disability Benefits

If your doctor discovers that you are permanently disabled, you will receive permanent total disability benefits, which is weekly payments of the temporary total rate for the rest of your life. Injuries that warrant permanent total disability benefits are injuries as severe as losing either arms or legs or blindness.

Permanent partial disability benefits are scheduled or unscheduled awards based on what part of the body suffered injury and how devastating the injury was.

What Do I Do If My Employer Contests My Claim?

The rates that an employer has to pay for workers’ compensation insurance go up with each injury, so your employer may contest your claim if he or she believes it is invalid or incorrect. If your employer contests your claim, the state workers’ compensation board decides whether it is proper. The state will have you see a physician, so they can have as much information as possible while they decide.

If the board rejects your claim and sides with the employer, you have the option to appeal. In Georgia, you have 20 days to appeal a rejected claim. Once you have appealed, there are various steps that you need to go through before your case will go to court. The process is complicated, and a lawyer who is well versed in the intricacies of Georgia workers’ compensation law will be an invaluable asset.

Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you suffered an injury on the job and your employer is contesting your claim for benefits, an employment attorney can help you get fair compensation.