The fact that you were injured at work doesn’t automatically mean you will have your workers’ comp claim validated. There are certain criteria that needs to be met to have a viable claim in Georgia.

Claim Criteria

There are three main criteria that must be met for your claim to be 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.

Compensable Injury

A compensable injury covered by workers’ comp is one that occurred throughout your employment and as a consequence of your job. For example, if your work entails washing the windows of a skyscraper, and you fall off the scaffolding, you have a valid workers comp claim. The injury occured while you were performing your job functions.

Other examples of compensable injuries:

• 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

Not a Compensable Injury

One example of an injury that would not be considered compensable is if you were to leave work during work hours to do some shopping and got hit by a car. However, if your employer sent you to do some shopping over lunch, you might have a compensable claim.

Timing

You are expected as an employee to report any injuries that take place at work immediately. 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

There must be a ‘causal connection’ between the injury (or illness) and your occupation. For on the job injuries, it is possible to establish a causal connection by offering a doctor’s medical report that contains a description of the workplace accident or incident that resulted in the accident, a diagnosis of your condition, and an explanation of how the diagnosis relates to the accident.

If you are an injured employee and have any questions regarding whether or not you have a valid claim, then contact a workers’ compensation attorney to schedule a consultation. Your attorney will be able to tell you definitively whether you have a claim or not and what the your next step is.