2021 Georgia Code
Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations
Chapter 9 - Workers' Compensation
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 34-9-12. Employer's Record of Injuries; Availability of Board Records; Supplementary Report on Termination of Disability; Penalties; Routine Reports

1. Every employer subject to the provisions of this chapter relative to the payment of compensation shall hereafter keep a record of all injuries, fatal or otherwise, received by his employees in the course of their employment on blanks approved by the board. Within ten days after notice, as provided in Code Section 34-9-80, of the occurrence of an injury to an employee requiring medical or surgical treatment or causing his absence from work for more than seven days, a report thereof shall be made in writing and mailed to the board on blanks to be procured from the board for this purpose.
2. The records of the board, insofar as they refer to accidents, injuries, and settlements, shall not be open to the public but only to the parties satisfying the board of their interest in such records and their right to inspect them. The board shall provide data contained on Employers' First Report of Injury forms reporting fatalities to the Georgia Department of Labor and the United States Department of Labor for use in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Program. The board shall provide data to such other state and federal governmental entities or departments as required by law. Under such reasonable rules and regulations as the board may adopt, the records of the board as to any employee in any previous case in which such employee was a claimant shall be open to and made available to such claimant, to an employer or its insurance carrier which is called upon to pay compensation, medical expenses, or funeral expenses, and to any party at interest, except that the board may make such reasonable charge as it deems proper for furnishing information by mail and for copies of records. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the board or its designees from publishing decisions of the board, provided adequate security measures have been taken to protect the identity and privacy of the parties.
3. Upon the termination of the disability of the injured employee, the employer shall make a supplementary report to the board on blanks to be procured from the board for the purpose. The report shall contain the name, nature, and location of the business of the employer; the name, age, sex, and wages and occupation of the injured employee; and shall state the date and hour of the accident causing the injury, the nature and cause of the injury, and such other information as may be required by the board.
4. Any employer who refuses or willfully neglects to make the report required by subsection (a) of this Code section shall be subject to a penalty of not more than $100.00 for each refusal or instance of willful neglect, to be assessed by the board, a member, or an administrative law judge in an open hearing, with the right of review as in other cases. In the event the employer has sent the report to the insurance carrier for forwarding to the board, the insurance carrier willfully neglecting or failing to forward the report shall be liable and shall pay the penalty.
5. Every employer shall, upon request of the board, report the number of his employees, hours of their labor, and number of days of operation of business.

(Ga. L. 1920, p. 167, § 65; Ga. L. 1923, p. 92, § 6; Ga. L. 1929, p. 358, § 1; Code 1933, § 114-716; Ga. L. 1957, p. 493, § 1; Ga. L. 1963, p. 141, § 16; Ga. L. 1975, p. 198, § 12; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1679, § 2; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1396, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 34; Ga. L. 2002, p. 846, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 126, § 1/HB 1101.)

- General duty of employers to keep record of name, address, and occupation of employees, § 34-2-11.

Board's duty to provide injured workers with notice of rights, benefits, and obligations, § 34-9-81.1.

- For annual survey of law on labor and employment law, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 181 (2010).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Access to records limited to interested parties.

- In a suit to recover for personal injuries and property damage arising out of an automobile collision, the defendants served the board with a request for the production of any and all claims by the plaintiff for workers' compensation benefits, including but not limited to all medical records, reports, and narratives. The trial court did not err in denying this motion, as the board is not a general repository of discoverable material for the defendants in civil actions, and access to the board's records is properly limited to those parties who have a specific interest in the workers' compensation claim in connection with which the records are maintained by the board. Insofar as the plaintiff's actual medical records were concerned, the defendants could have pursued the usual means of discovery that were available to any defendant in a civil action. Farrell v. Dunn, 199 Ga. App. 631, 405 S.E.2d 731 (1991).

- Deputy director abused the director's discretion in assessing a penalty under this section against an employer without first affording the employer notice of the assessment of such penalty and opportunity to be heard. Bailey-Lewis-Williams of Ga., Inc. v. Thomas, 103 Ga. App. 279, 119 S.E.2d 141 (1961).

- If it is not required by the worker's compensation law (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-9-1 et seq) itself, and in the absence of any fraud on the part of the employer, the employer's mere failure to report an accident, as required, does not toll the running of the statute as to the time for filing a claim for compensation, as failure of the employer to make such a report has nothing whatever to do with the employee's failure to file, or delay in filing, a claim for compensation on account of such accident. Welchel v. American Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 54 Ga. App. 511, 188 S.E. 357 (1936), overruled on other grounds, Brown Transp. Co. v. James, 243 Ga. 701, 257 S.E.2d 242 (1979).

Cited in Employers' Liability Assur. Corp. v. Pruitt, 63 Ga. App. 149, 10 S.E.2d 275 (1940); Hartford Accident & Indem. Co. v. Dutton, 110 Ga. App. 398, 138 S.E.2d 733 (1964); Peters v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 113 Ga. App. 41, 147 S.E.2d 26 (1966); Fidelity & Cas. Co. v. Whitehead, 114 Ga. App. 630, 152 S.E.2d 706 (1966); S.S. Kresge Co. v. Black, 144 Ga. App. 58, 240 S.E.2d 554 (1977); Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Lockett, 150 Ga. App. 835, 258 S.E.2d 644 (1979); Insurance Co. of N. Am. v. Henson, 150 Ga. App. 788, 258 S.E.2d 706 (1979).

Term "employer" as used in former Code 1933, § 114-716 (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-9-12) must be interpreted to have the same meaning as set out in former Code 1933, §§ 114-101 and 114-102 (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-9-12). 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-55.

- Since the State of Georgia is specifically included in former Code 1933, §§ 114-101 and 114-102 (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-9-1), it was, by implication, included in former Code 1933, § 114-716 (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-9-12), and the State of Georgia and all departments, instrumentalities, and authorities thereof must comply with the record-keeping provisions of former Code 1933, § 114-716. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-55.

- All records of the State Board of Workers' Compensation pertaining to accidents, injuries, and settlements are confidential, unless a party can meet the statutory requirements for access or has authority pursuant to the Child Support Recovery Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-11-1 et seq. 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91-5.

Files and records that would otherwise be confidential under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-12(b) should be furnished to prosecutors in furtherance of a Fraud and Compliance Division investigation. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97-20.

State Board of Workers' Compensation may legally assess a penalty against Department of Administrative Services, as the agent for other departments, instrumentalities, and authorities of the state, if there is a refusal or willful neglect to file timely reports of injuries required by this section. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-55.

What constitutes "refusal" or "willful neglect" is a factual question which must be resolved on a case-by-case basis; mere delay in filing the reports, without more, probably would not amount to either refusal or willful neglect so as to give rise to the penalty. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-55.

Employer is not required to inform an insurer of all employee injuries. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-126.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 82 Am. Jur. 2d, Workers' Compensation, § 538.

- 101 C.J.S., Workers' Compensation, § 1717 et seq.