Disability Law

To Hire An Attorney or Not: The Affect of Atlanta & Georgia's Economy on Workers' Compensation Claimants

By Jack E. Clay

I have been asked about how the economy affects workers' compensation claimants in a bad economy. There are several observations that I have made, some obvious and some not so apparent.

In Douglasville, GA, where my law firm is located, there has been a virtual shut-down of construction in both residential and commercial settings. Obviously, construction workers suffer some of the most severe injuries when work accidents happen.

First, if there are fewer workers across the board, there will be fewer workers' compensation claims. This assumption could be a bit skewed a bit if, for example, disproportionately more white collar workers are out of work compared to blue collar workers. Historically, most worrkers' compensation claims are made by injured workers who work in physical labor jobs including places such as factories, construction, and manufacturing. There are also many claims by what I refer to as front line service workers such as restaurant workers and maintenance professionals. If we assume, for example, a factory closes down in a given place while office workers are not losing their jobs, it is likely that the number of workers' comp. claims will drop to a larger degree.

I also believe that the lucky people with jobs, especially good jobs, are less likely to file a workers' compensation claim for fear of losing their job. I tell clients up-front that almost all insurers and employers will insist that they resign as part of the settlement of their workers' compensation case.

I will continue a series of articles on this subject in the coming weeks.

Full post as published by Georgia Law Blog on March 01, 2009 (boomark / email).