One of the most important things to remember after sustaining a serious injury in a Georgia workplace accident and receiving temporary total disability benefits (TTD), is that you should never return to light duty work without a WC-240a form completed by your physician. The WC-240 and WC-240a forms establish specific limitations for and include a detailed checklist of the type of activities you can perform in your light duty return to work. The WC-240a must be filled out by your authorized treating physician, and the WC-240 form will be filled out by your employer/insurer. The latter contains the job title, hours of work, rate of pay and the date light duty work will begin. It’s important that you have the proper paperwork to ensure that your work limitations are taken into consideration when offered a light duty position by your employer. If you have been injured in a GA workplace accident, contact our knowledgeable workers’ compensation attorneys at Rechtman & Spevak to explore your compensation options.

Georgia Light Duty Work Limitations

If you sustain a serious injury on the job site, and you return to work with a WC-240 and WC-240a form, and within 15 days, you find that you cannot perform the work duties required of your position, you can leave the workplace and your TTD disability benefits will automatically resume. If you wait more than 15 days before deciding that the offered job does not fit within your injury limitations however, your TTD benefits will not automatically resume, and you will likely have to wait weeks or months to get a hearing date so you can present the matter to a workers’ compensation judge.

Refusing Light Duty Work Assignments

Unfortunately, in many instances of GA work injuries, the individual’s employer will create a “make work” position for the worker, for the primary purpose of terminating TTD benefits and ultimately offering the employee a low settlement. According to a 1986 Georgia Court of Appeals decision, a claimant can justifiably refuse a job proposed by his or her employer if the position offers him or her no challenge and no opportunity for advancement. Although this ruling does not entitle a light duty employee to refuse any job offered by his employer, it does mean that injured workers have the right to challenge unfair job offers designed to manipulate the injured worker into settling his claim for a small offer.

Contact Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Help

Injured employees in Georgia who return to light duty work after receiving temporary total disability benefits are typically advised to try to fulfill the position if it takes into consideration the restrictions established by the authorized treating physician. However, under no circumstances should a Georgia worker be forced to endure a hostile or inappropriate environment in the workplace because of his or her injury or disability. If you have sustained serious injuries in a workplace accident in Atlanta, Marietta, or elsewhere in Georgia, contact our experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at Rechtman & Spevak to discuss your legal options. If you have been cleared for light duty work by your authorized treating physician, and your employer hasn’t offered you a satisfactory position, our skilled workers’ compensation attorneys can help you protect your legal rights and your disability benefits until a proper light duty position is provided.

Jaret A. Spevak
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Atlanta Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorney With 20+ Years Experience