What is the history of workers compensation in Georgia?
Established in 1920 by the Georgia legislature, the State Board of Workers’ Compensation serves over a quarter of a million employers in Georgia and over 3.8 million workers. The State Board is funded by assessments from insurance companies and self-insured employers. An employee that is injured on the job and is covered by the law may be eligible for replacement of a portion of lost wages, medical payments, vocational rehabilitation services and other benefits. Prior to the passage of the Workers’ Compensation Act, an employee who was injured on the job could not expect benefits from the employer. Men, women, and children were often subjected to harsh and oppressive working conditions with little or no recourse for work-related injuries. Courts often denied recovery to employees by holding that employees assumed risks in taking the job, were negligent, or were barred from recovery by the negligence of a fellow employee. Filing a suit in court was also unsatisfactory because trials wer
