Things You Need to Know About Georgia Workers Compensation

People working in Georgia who suffered from an injury at work is eligible for their workers compensation benefit. Georgia’s Board of Workers Compensation is currently administering the workers compensation in this state.

It is best to know some basic of the rules so that when you happen to need to file a workers’ compensation Georgia claims, you know what to do.

The first thing that you should know if you suffer an injury while working is its categories. Workers compensation Georgia categorizes injuries into 4: These are the occupational disease, mental injuries, repeated trauma and traumatic physical injuries. Traumatic physical injury is the most common compensation claim because they are classified as single accident that occurs in the workplace. Repeated trauma is a type of injury that occurs when a worker perform his job repeatedly causing constant damage to his shoulders, hands or arms. He is also entitled to compensation claim if he suffers from mental injuries. These injuries occur if a worker suffers emotional trauma cause by serious physical injury such as amputation.  

In case an employee suffers injury while working at Georgia, he may submit claim to ask for assistance for medical costs and disability (permanent or partial) benefits. The state workers law states that the monetary amount to be given to the worker will be dependent on the classification of his disability. To illustrate, a worker who suffers from total disability and renders him out of work for the rest of his life can receive up to 2/3 of his average weekly wage. On the other hand, if a worker was injured in the performance of his task, the state puts a specific time on how long a worker will be given benefits; this will depend on the type and extent of his injury. If the claim is properly filed, a worker should wait at least seven days before receiving his benefits but when the disability lasts for 21 days, a worker may receive a back pay for the first seven days  known as retroactive pay.


A worker who suffers from an injury while working should tell his employer about it as early as possible because under the workers compensation Georgia law, you are given 30 days to report your injury to your employer. Failure to do so within the specified time allot will result of you not being able to get benefits. You have one year after your injury to file a workers’ compensation claim with workers compensation Georgia board to receive benefits or one year from the date where your employer last provided you with treatment. Failure to follow this rule will mean that you cannot get your compensation benefits. The employer will then notify its workers’ compensation insurer. If they both accept the liability, the claim will be processed and your claim will be given to you. If in case, they both denied the claim, the worker can submit the papers to the proper authority. You can also hire a workers’ compensation Georgia attorney to help you with your benefits claim.

Divorce in Georgia

The United States ranks top among the countries with the highest divorce rates in the world with 4.95 persons per 1,000 people. Among all of its states, new data from the U.S. Census determined divorce in Georgia as one with highest divorce rates in the country. Although this data indicate that most marriages in Georgia do not last, figures also suggest that Georgia has one of the highest marriage rates as well.

Having a divorce in Georgia is a serious matter. When you find yourself subjected to divorce, you should give some serious consideration to obtain legal advice from a lawyer near your residence.
Based on Section 19-5-5 of the Georgia Code, in order to file a divorce in Georgia, one of the spouse has to be a resident of the state for not less than six months before the filing of the divorce.  

The Legal Grounds For Divorce

The following are the grounds of a divorce in Georgia:
  • Having close blood relations.
  • Mental incapacity during the time of marriage.
  • Getting married by coercion, force, fraud, or menace.
  • Pregnancy of the wife by another man other than the wife’s husband which is unknown to the husband during the time of marriage.
  • Adultery in either of the parties.
  • Willful and continued desertion by either the wife or the husband in one year term.
  • The conviction of either spouse that involves immoral turpitude by which one is sentenced to a penal institution for a term of two years or more.
  • A person’s habitual intoxication.
  • Cruel treatment that includes willful infliction of mental or physical pain. Upon the complaining party, the complainant has to reasonably justify apprehension of danger to life, limb, or health.
  • Incurable mental illness.
  • Habitual addiction to drugs which consists of addiction to any controlled substance as defined in Article 2, Chapter 13, Title 16; (13)— Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
If you file a divorce in Georgia on the grounds that your marriage is permanently broken, with no hope of getting back together, a thirty day waiting period has to be applied.

An application to divorce in Georgia may also be refused to be granted if the judge and the court find any of the following:
  • The adultery, desertion, cruelty etc. filed was planned or staged in order to get a divorce
  • Either you or your spouse consented to the adultery, desertion, cruelty or intoxication
  • Both have behaved the same way
  • Either the husband or wife condones the act you are complaining about

Division of Property and Child Custody

Georgia is a state of equitable distribution which means that the court considers factors to an equal distribution of a marital property such as the longevity of the marriage, personal economic contributions, and financial resources of each. By definition, a marital property is something neither one has acquired before the marriage. Non-marital properties, however, are those acquired before the marriage; thus, they are not included in the division of property upon divorce. If you and your ex-husband or wife can agree on how to divide a property, both can present a settlement agreement to the court.

The custody, on the other hand, is awarded to either of the spouse on the best interest of the child or children. If a child has reached 14 years old, the child shall have the liberty to select which parent he or she wishes to live with. Furthermore, in some cases where the child has reached 11 years of age (not 14); the court shall still consider the child’s desire. Also, the educational needs will be considered of which parent shall have custody.The custody given by the court may be sole, joint, joint-legal, or joint-physical custody, whichever is appropriate.