If you have suffered from an injury or illness on-the-job, you know how traumatic the incident is. Unfortunately, the aftermath of a workplace accident is not much better and you may be wondering whether or not you have a valid workers’ compensation claim. In order to better understand if your claim is eligible for compensation, you must be aware of the specific criteria in Georgia.

Valid Claim Criteria 

There are three major criteria that will determine if your claim is valid:

1. You must have had an injury while on the job OR that you must have an occupational-related disorder
2. You must meet Georgia’s deadlines for reporting the injury and filing a workers’ comp claim.
3. You should have documentation or proof to show your injury is as a result of the job.

If your claim falls under all three of these criteria, it is very likely that you have a valid claim and thus can receive compensation for your injury! 

Compensable vs. Non-Compensable Injury 

There are some significant differences between injuries that can be considered compensable and those that cannot. In general, a compensable injury covered by workers’ comp is one that occurred throughout your employment and as a consequence of your job. The injury must have occured while you were performing your job functions in order to be compensable. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• A slip and fall at work during work hours
• An employee falls in the parking lot while walking into work
• An employee slips during his lunch break

On the other hand, non-compensable injuries can include accidents that occured during your normal hours of work but that were unrelated to your job functions. For example, if you were to leave your place of employment during work hours to do some personal shopping and got hit by a car, your injury would not be compensable. However, if your employer sent you to do some work-related shopping and you incurred an injury, this could be compensable. The line between compensable and non-compensable injuries is sometimes fine which is why it’s important that you hire a knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorney to help you navigate throughout the process. 

Timeframe 

In order to have a valid claim, you must report your injury as soon as possible. The sooner you report your injury, the more likely you will be awarded compensation.  In Georgia, if an incident is reported after 30 days, the employee could lose eligibility for compensation. Furthermore, the statute of limitation contained in section 34-9-82(a) of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated states that an employee who is injured has one year from the date of injury within which to file a claim for benefits, or else his or her right to compensation may be forfeited.

Causal Connection 

The final criteria that your claim must meet in order to be valid, is that there must be a ‘causal connection’ between the injury (or illness) and your occupation. This can be done by providing a doctor’s report stating that the injury you incurred was caused by a workplace accident or an incident that resulted because of the accident. The report should also include a diagnosis of your injury or condition and a thorough explanation of how the injury is related to the workplace accident. It is essential that you obtain this medical report as it is an important step in proving causal connection and validating your claim.

If you are an injured employee and have any questions regarding whether or not you have a valid claim, contact Poirier Law Firm to schedule a consultation. Despite this unpredictable time in the world, our experienced team is still here for you and can help determine whether you have a claim or not and what your next step is.