Workers Compensation Law in Georgia

Yes, any employer that regularly has three or more employees — full-time or part-time — is required by law to carry workers' compensation insurance. Corporate officers and limited liability company members count toward that three-person threshold even if they personally opt out of coverage. An employer without insurance remains personally responsible for paying all benefits to an injured worker.

Your employer controls the initial choice of physician through a required posted panel of at least six doctors, which must include at least one orthopedic specialist. You choose a doctor from that panel. If your employer fails to maintain a proper panel, you may be able to choose your own doctor. In an emergency you may see any doctor, but you should transfer to a panel physician as soon as practicable.

If you are completely unable to work, you are entitled to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a maximum of $800 per week for injuries on or after July 1, 2023 and a minimum of $50 per week. Benefits begin on the eighth day of disability. For most injuries, weekly benefits can continue for up to 400 weeks; workers with catastrophic injuries may receive lifetime benefits.

Generally no. Georgia's workers' compensation system is the exclusive remedy against your employer for most work-related injuries, meaning you give up the right to sue the employer for negligence in exchange for receiving benefits without having to prove fault. However, you may still be able to bring a separate legal claim against a third party — such as a manufacturer of defective equipment — whose actions contributed to your injury.

Georgia law defines catastrophic injuries to include spinal cord injuries causing paralysis, severe traumatic brain injury, second- or third-degree burns over large portions of the body, and loss of two or more limbs, among other serious conditions. Workers with catastrophic injuries receive lifetime authorized medical benefits and are not subject to the 400-week income benefit limit that applies to other injuries.

Gradual-onset injuries and occupational diseases caused by workplace exposures can qualify for workers' compensation in Georgia. For an occupational disease, the one-year filing clock generally begins on the date you became aware — or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have become aware — that your condition was connected to your work.

The State Board of Workers' Compensation is the Georgia state agency that administers and enforces the workers' compensation law, sets benefit rates, approves claim forms, holds hearings when claims are disputed, and penalizes employers who fail to carry required insurance. The Board also runs an ombudsman program that provides free help to injured workers navigating the system; it does not provide legal representation.