2025 Code of Georgia
Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations (Chs. 1 — 15)
Appendix A - Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation
Rule 221 - Method of Payment
(a) Payment shall be made to the address of record or account specified by the claimant, in cash, by negotiable instrument, or upon agreement of the parties by electronic funds transfer. Payment by negotiable instrument shall denote the pay period which the payment represents. Mailed payments shall be sent to the claimant in accordance with the procedure prescribed by O. C. G. A. § 34-9-221(b). Payments by electronic funds transfer shall be considered to be made at the time the payer initiates an Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic funds transfer with its financial institution.
(b) For the purpose of calculating time periods, the date of injury shall be deemed to be the date of disability and a week shall be deemed to be seven calendar days. See Rule 220(a).
(c) In all cases, including payment of salary for compensable disability, upon making the first payment and upon suspension of payment, Forms WC-1 or WC-2 or, in case of death, Form WC-2A shall be filed with the Board. If the Forms WC-1 or WC-2 show payment is less than the maximum weekly benefit under either O. C. G. A. § 34-9-261 or O. C. G. A. § 34-9-262, as applicable, a Form WC-6 or other sufficient explanation shall be filed with the Board with the accompanying Form WC-1 or WC-2. To report any change in weekly benefits, payment of salary during period of compensability, classification, or rating of disability, a Form WC-2 shall be filed with the Board. An injured employee who receives regular wages during disability shall not be entitled to weekly benefits for the same period.
(d) To controvert in whole or in part the right to income benefits or other compensation, use Forms WC-1 or WC-3. Failure to file the Forms WC-1 or WC-3 before the 21st day after knowledge of the injury or death may subject the employer/insurer to an assessment of penalties or attorney’s fees. See paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) of O. C. G. A. § 34-9-108.
(e) Any penalty for late payment shall be stated as a separate item on Forms WC-1, WC-2 or WC-2A.
(f) Accrued benefits payable under the terms of an award are due on the date the award is issued.
(g) Within 30 days after final payment of compensation, a final Form WC-4 shall be filed with the Board.
(h) Subsection (h) of O. C. G. A. § 34-9-221 applies only when income benefits are being paid under Forms WC-2, WC-2A, or subsection B of Form WC-1. To suspend payment on the ground of a change in condition, file Forms WC-2 or WC-2A.
(1) A Form WC-3 shall not be used to suspend benefits where the only issue is length of disability. In these cases, suspend benefits by filing a Form WC-2 or follow procedure outlined in Rule 240. If liability is denied subsequent to commencement of payment, but within 60 days of due date of first payment of compensation, file Form WC-3 in addition to a Form WC-2.
(2) If income benefits have been continued for more than 60 days after the due date of first payment of compensation, benefits may be suspended only on the grounds of a change in condition or newly discovered evidence. File Forms WC-2 or WC-2A. When controverting a claim based on newly discovered evidence, file Form WC-3 also.
(i)
(1) Suspension of benefits at any time on the ground of change in condition requires advance notice of 10 days unless the employee has actually returned to work.
(2) The date of filing with the Board, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, shall be considered the date of notice.
(3) The date affixed by the Board to Forms WC-2 or WC-2A, in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, shall be considered the date of notice.
(4)
(a) When suspending benefits for release to return to work without restrictions, the employer/insurer shall attach to the Form WC-2 a copy of the supporting medical report from employee’s authorized treating physician, who must have examined the employee within sixty days of the effective date of the release.
(b) If suspending benefits for release to return to work without restrictions, and if filing via EDI, section (i)(4)(a) shall be followed and the employer/insurer shall simultaneously mail to, or electronically file with, the Board the filed Subsequent Report of Injury (SROI) or Form WC-2 and a copy of the supporting medical report from employee’s authorized treating physician. Pursuant to Board Rule 60(c), all documents filed with the Board shall contain the employee’s name, date of injury, and Board claim number. Any document that does not contain this information shall be rejected by the Board. Copies of all filings shall be served on the employee and the employee’s attorney, if represented. If service is performed by regular mail to the employee, three additional days shall be added to the prescribed notice period.
Annotations
Notes
Note as to revisions.The revision effective July 1, 1996, inserted language in subsections (d) and (g).
The revision effective July 1, 1999, rewrote this rule.
The revision effective July 1, 2000, inserted language or punctuation to subsections (a), (b) and paragraph (4) of subsection (i).
The revision effective July 1, 2002, substituted “Payment shall be made in cash, by negotiable instrument, or, upon agreement of the parties, by electronic funds transfer.” for “ Make payment by electronic funds transfer, upon agreement of the parties, in cash, or by negotiable instrument drawn on a Georgia depository, except where an application for exception is made to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation so that the employee can receive payment the day of receipt at a Georgia depository convenient to the employee’s address of record, if that address is in Georgia. Application for exception is made by submitting a completed Application for Waiver and Indemnification Agreement to the Board. Application for exception shall be updated every five years.” in subsection (a).
The revision effective July 1, 2003, inserted in subsection (c) “including payment of salary for compensable disability,” in the first sentence, inserted “payment of salary during period of compensability,” in the third sentence, and added the fourth sentence; and, added “to a Form WC-2” to end of paragraph (g)(1).
The revision effective July 1, 2005, rewrote subsection (a).
The revision effective July 1, 2006, in subsection (c), in the first sentence, deleted “use” preceding “Forms WC-1 or WC-2” and added “shall be filed with the Board”, rewrote the second sentence, and substituted “a Form WC-2 shall be filed with the Board” for “use Form WC-2” in the third sentence.
The revision effective July 1, 2007, substituted “date of notice” for “date of filing” at the end of paragraphs (i)(2) and (i)(3), and in paragraph (i)(4), substituted “without restrictions” for “without restriction” and “who must have” for “provided that the physician has”.
The revision effective July 1, 2009, designated the existing provisions of paragraph (i)(4) as subparagraph (i)(4)(a), and added subparagraph (i)(4)(b).
The revision effective July 1, 2011, inserted “funds” in the first sentence of subsection (a).
The revision effective July 1, 2024, added the last sentence in subsection (a).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Employer filing notice of appeal after twentieth day. —When employee was awarded workers’ compensation benefits, when employer filed its appeal to the full board within the 30-day period for bringing appeals which was then in effect but after 20 days from the date of the award, and when more than one year from the original award, the employee requested that the board assess a 20 percent penalty against the employer for failing to pay benefits within 20 days from the date of the original award, the penalty was properly assessed; an award becomes due on the date the award is issued and a penalty is assessable if benefits are not paid within 20 days from the date they become due. Cox Enters., Inc. v. Marshall, 190 Ga. App. 322, 378 S.E.2d 725, 1989 Ga. App. LEXIS 185 (1989).
Research References & Practice Aids
Law reviews.For annual survey of workers’ compensation, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 431 (1986).
