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workers’ comp benefits

Can I receive disability benefits and workers compensation benefits at the same time?

No, pursuant to Board Rule 200 (c), “an injured employee who receives regular wages during disability shall not be entitled to weekly benefits for the same period.”

Assuming that an employee has a wage-continuation plan or sick leave policy, the employer should offer the employee the choice to receive either (more…)

Can my personal health condition prevent me from obtaining workers compensation benefits?

In a recent case, a court was asked to decide whether an employee’s obesity was the primary cause of a work injury which would have prevented the employee from receiving benefits.  The court announced that the determining factor was whether the employee was injured while performing an activity that was part of his/her job. If the employee was injured while on duty and working, then she is eligible for benefits.

In this case (more…)

Should I Apply for Social Security?

One of the questions that can be a source of great anguish is whether or not an injured employee should apply for Social Security Disability benefits.  It requires the employee to consider that he or she may never be able to return to be a productive member of the workforce.  The very thought of it can bring visions of having the stigma of being a statistic attached for life. (more…)

Will my failure to wear my seat belt harm my workers comp claim?

There are many Americans that drive commercial vehicles as part of their daily job.  Since their jobs include driving, they must face the hazards of the roads and highways.  What happens if an employee is involved in a car accident while working, and he is not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident? Will his failure to wear his seat belt harm his workers compensation claim?

The first thing we must consider (more…)

Why Isn’t My Case Moving Along More Quickly

If you have suffered a work-related injury and cannot work, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Yet when an employer/insurer denies benefits for any reason, there can certainly be some frustration while waiting for results from a claim filed with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation.  That frustration (more…)

If I settle my Workers’ Compensation Claim, am I still entitled to my pension and retirement benefits?

When an employee settles his or her workers’ compensation claim, the Employer/Insurer usually requires the employee voluntarily resign.  At the settlement, many employees become concerned about their pension and/or retirement benefits, such as flight privileges, monetary bonuses, health insurance coverage, disability insurance coverage and numerous other perks.  Often times (more…)

Providing Information To Your Workers’ Compensation Attorney To Help Your Claim

In preparing to discuss a claim with a workers’ compensation attorney, it is important for the injured worker to gather up all the information about the injury he or she can to provide to the attorney.  However, it does not stop there.  In assessing a litigation strategy in a workers’ compensation claim, it is important for the attorney to have (more…)

Can an employee injured on his way home from working out of town get compensation?

Let’s assume the following facts: An employee works for a construction company based in Atlanta, Georgia; he is assigned to a construction project in Alabama; his employer is not reimbursing the employee for time and travel in the employee’s personal car to the remote location; on his way home to Atlanta on a Friday afternoon at 6:15 p.m. he is injured in a car accident. Can the employee receive workers’ compensation benefits for his injuries and lost time resulting from the car accident?

Under the above facts (more…)

Lies about Past Injuries Can Harm a Claimant’s Workers’ Comp Case

Pursuant to the case law presented in Georgia Electric Company v. Rycroft, 259 Ga. 155, 378 S.E.2d 111 (1989), an employee’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits may be denied if the employer can prove that the employee lied about old injuries. (more…)

Injured during a break at work in Georgia

The Appellate Division recently examined two different scenarios in which a worker was injured while performing tasks that were not part of their job duties and came up with two different results.

In the first case, (more…)