Sears announced that it will close six Georgia stores as follows: Sears in Macon; Kmart in Atlanta, Buford, Columbus, Douglasville and Jonesboro. Florida will be hit the hardest by the closing of Sears and Kmart stores, losing 11, according to a preliminary list of 79 planned closures released Thursday. Ohio and Michigan have six store closures planned in their states. Tennessee, North Carolina and Minnesota are set to lose four stores each.
In Georgia, we suspect that these closures will produce a substantial amount of lay-offs including employees injured on the job. It is important to note that these injured employees who have been laid off have certain responsibilities before workers’ compensation benefits are started. It is recommended that these injured employees return to their authorized treating physician immediately. This will help certify their work restrictions. Subsequently, we recommend that the laid off and injured workers begin to document a search for employment within the recently certified work restrictions. Additionally, it would be prudent to seek unemployment benefits.
Those Georgia workers’ desiring a free consultation regarding their rights under workers’ compensation should call the Ramos Law Firm.
