#195 Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer - Workers' Compensation: What You Need to Know Before Returning to Work on Light Duty?

Injured workers, have you been injured, taken out of work, paychecks, and now your doctor is releasing you to light duty? That's a question that we got sent to us today. And I want to address that in this video. It's going to be a little longer than our other videos. But if you have been released to light duty and are receiving income benefit checks, you're going to want to listen. Especially towards the end, as to some of the things you want to look out for in your claim.  Hello, My name is Ty Wilson. I'm a Georgia workers’ compensation attorney practicing Law in the state of Georgia. And our question, which was sent today from a gentleman, states, “I was injured on the job and taken out of work. I have received medical treatment and ultimately was forced to undergo surgery for my back injury. I am receiving checks from the insurance company for being out of work. However, recently I have been released to light duty by my doctor. What do I need to know prior to returning to work?” Well, this is one of the most critical times in a work injury claim. The last thing you want to do if you're receiving income benefits is when that employer calls you and says, “good news, we have light duty work for you” Well, there's a lot more questions than just that. And so the first thing I would say is do not just return to work. This is a very important time in your workers compensation claim. And during the important times, you need to weigh out all of the possibilities that could happen as a result of returning back to work. So I recommend that you reach out to a Georgia worker's compensation attorney. We're happy to take the call, and we'll be happy to talk to you about what your options are. But there's some things to think about, and we've made some notes. If you mishandle this, this could be a very detrimental or dangerous time and your workers compensation claim. So if you're taking out of work and you're receiving weekly benefit checks for temporary total disability benefits, you do not want to just return back to work. What is important is that the employer is required under Georgia law. More specifically, Board Rule 240 and the official code of Georgia annotated Section 34-9-240, which is the rules that the employer must follow. I know when you're nine workers, all these rules, all these rules, these rules contain me and limit me and limit who I can see and treat with and what my pay is and so forth. Well, the employers also have rules, and this is a critical one that you want to hold their feet to the fire. And it's called a return to work WC-240. So what must happen? Okay, what must happen is the employer must put together a light duty job that they believe is obviously within your right to be restrictions, and they must send it over in the form of a WC 240 A to the doctor. They must also send you a notice that they are sending you WC 240 and that is coming. And so what must happen then? Well, then the doctor has to review it. Doctors are busy and then the doctor has to sign off on it. If the doctor doesn't sign off on it, they can't return you back to work. And that's really an important thing. It's very difficult when you feel the stress of being asked to return back to work, to sit there and say, I don't have the proper documentation. CALL US ►  912-208-2992TEXT US ► 912-233-1100EMAIL US ► [email protected] •  Website•  Facebook•  Pinterest