Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

Most of the time, if you and the employer and/or insurer have been scheduled to mediate your Georgia workers' compensation claim, it is arranged by agreement of both sides and by filing a Board Form WC-100 with both sides' signatures. However, I have been involved in a contentious workers' compensation hearing in Atlanta, and the Judge ordered us to go down to the ADR (alternative dispute resolution) unit to mediate the case. In a case such as that one, we were required to attempt to resolve our issues with a mediator, but we weren't required to settle (and we didn't).

In short, you cannot be forced to accept a settlement offer from the insurance company. You may be force to attend a mediation and attempt to settle your case, but if the best offer given is not good enough for you, you may walk away. If you would like help with evaluating and pricing your workers compensation claim in Georgia, feel free to call my Atlanta law office for a consult.

After mediating or otherwise settling a workers' compensation claim, my clients frequently want to know when they're going to get paid.

With the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation's fairly recent switch to paperless filings through its ICMS system (Integrated Claims Management System), workers' compensation claims in Atlanta and elsewhere in Georgia are getting approved quite quickly.  Here's a quick breakdown of the process of settling a workers' comp claim in Georgia and getting paid:

1)  the parties reach an agreement.  Usually, this is a dollar figure, but it can include medical and other provisions that either side wishes to include in its bargained-for agreement.

2)  the employer gets a copy.  The defense attorney sends a copy to the employer.

3)  the claimant and his/her attorney (if he/she is represented) gets a copy of the "stip" and will have several places to sign their names.

4)  the stip is sent back to the defense attorney for signatures.

5)  the stip is sent electronically to the State Board of Workers' Compensation in Atlanta via ICMS. 

6)  the State Board approves the stip.  These days, I'm seeing this occur in a day or two.

7)  the employer and/or insurer have 20 days to pay.

8)  if the employer/insurer does not pay within 20 days of the State Board's approval, a penalty of 20% may be added (per O.C.G.A. 34-9-15).  

If you've been injured at work in Georgia and would like some guidance on whether to accept a settlement offer from an insurance company, please contact Michael Moebes, Atlanta workers' compensation lawyer.