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What Good is An Attorney in a Workers Comp Case?
“Workers comp attorney” may be a counter-intuitive concept for someone at least peripherally familiar with workers comp laws and their purpose and history. Workers comp laws were first enacted in Europe and then the United States in the 19th century in order to ensure that workers who had been injured or disabled on the job were appropriately compensated and to reduce the need for litigation, which at the time was an expensive, acrimonious, and socially disruptive process. What then, the average American employee might reasonably ask, is the role of a Georgia workers comp attorney? The answer to this question is somewhat complex and involves multiple considerations. Fundamentally, though, the fact of the matter is that the average human resources department may not be familiar enough with workers comp laws to avoid violating the rights of workers, and retaining the services of a workers comp attorney may be the only way for an injured worker to receive their legally mandated reparations.
The sheer number of resources on the Internet for human resources workers confused about workers comp laws attests to the need for workers comp attorneys representing the interests of injured workers. One website presents a section of frequently asked questions, one of which is “in the case of a non-serious injury can we make a one-time payment instead of having the employee fill out a workers comp form?” That this is a frequently asked question shows very broad ignorance on the part of some human resources departments, those departments in most firms primarily responsible for employee relations and workers comp claims, that attests to the systemic problems of workers comp and the need for a competent Georgia workers comp attorney.
There are a number of reasons for this confusion on the part of human resources departments. Workers comp laws vary widely from state to state, and especially in white collar industries, claims may not need to be filed very frequently; consequently, human resources workers may not have very much experience working with their state’s workers comp laws. An example of common variations between states is whether a payment is owed if the worker killed on the job doesn’t have any dependents. In Georgia, for example, workers comp laws mandate that if a worker is killed on the job and lacks dependents, a $10,000 payment is owed to the state.
In other cases, the human resources representative may be inexperienced due to changes in workers comp law that make whatever education they had on the topic irrelevant or anachronistic. This is another good reason for a Georgia workers comp attorney to be retained; a workers comp attorney is a professional whose primary field is workers comp law and who can make sure an employee receives the compensation the law mandates and justice demands.
The law office of John A. Snyder provides legal services for individuals and businesses throughout the Atlanta area. Mr. Snyder advises, litigates, and settles workers’ comp claims, car accident cases, veterans’ disability, and Social Security disability cases. At our law office, your case is personally managed by Georgia workers comp attorney John Snyder. If you need legal help concerning a car accident, please call our office today at 404-321-7733, or Toll Free at 1-855-WORK COMP for a free, no obligation consultation.
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