Startling Workers Comp Study Issued

Ever Thought How Much Your Arm is Worth?

In Georgia, the workers compensation system is described as “no fault.”  This means that the system does not take into account who was responsible for the on-the-job injury that caused you to miss work.  Plain and simple, in Georgia, if you are injured in an on-the-job-accident, you are entitled to workers compensation benefits.

Alabama has a very different situation.  The state’s workers’ compensation laws are difficult to understand for workers, employers, lawyers, and judges!  The employer gets to direct much of the medical care that an injured employee receives.  More times than not, an injured employee has to hire an Alabama attorney just to get the compensation and care he or she deserves.

Arm Amputations Worth Vastly Different Amounts Under Alabama and Georgia Workers Compensation Laws

A study was released recently by Propublica and NPR that asks a simple question:  “How much is your arm worth in a workers’ compensation setting?”  The study compares two employees that suffered the same injury.  Both had their left arms amputated in an on-the-job injury.  One was from Georgia and the other was from Alabama.

Their lives would never be the same.  They lost a piece of their bodies.  Not only that, they lost one of the most used parts of their body.  Simple tasks would never be the same for either man.

The vast difference in values placed on the injury is amazing.  The Alabama gentleman was compensated $49,000, despite the fact that he can NEVER hold another job that requires two hands.  The man in Georgia was awarded benefits that could entitle him to $780,000 over his lifetime.  Both injuries ere equally catastrophic, yet one man has a prosthetic arm and the other is left with nothing.  This is madness.

Many American employees work for multi-million and even multi-billion dollar companies that want to ensure employee safety.  For that reason, they purchase workers’ compensation insurance to cover any on-the-job injuries. Individual state legislatures are the bodies that set what protections they want to give those employees.  As you can see, Georgia is a worker-friendly state which increases employment.  Alabama, unfortunately, is not.

Proven. Personal. Parian.