Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog
The workers’ compensation system is a no-fault insurance system whereby employees give up their right to sue their employers for personal injuries in civil court in exchange for a fixed set of benefits they will receive if they are injured on the job, regardless of fault. If an injured employee were to sue his or her employer for personal injuries in civil court, he or she would have to show fault on the part of the employer and prove all the elements of a personal injury claim, while the employer would be able to defend itself using every legal defense available. In those cases, the injured worker might be able to recover more than he could get through workers’ compensation benefits, but, then again, he could end up getting nothing at all. The workers’ compensation solves this problem by barring personal injury suits by employees against their employers, but guarantees compensation to injured employees.
Each state runs its own workers’ compensation system and has different requirements for participation in the program.Here, we’ll take a look at Georgia’s.