How long do you have to file a workers’ compensation claim in Georgia?

A Georgia workers’ compensation claim must be filed with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation within one year of the injury, or the right to benefits is barred. That is O.C.G.A. § 34-9-82. If the employer paid for treatment or weekly benefits, the clock runs from the last treatment or the last check instead.

What does O.C.G.A. § 34-9-82 say?

The published heading is “Limitation period and procedure for filing claims.” Subsection (a) begins:

The right to compensation shall be barred unless a claim therefor is filed within one year after injury

The same subsection extends the deadline when the employer has furnished remedial treatment or paid weekly benefits: one year from the last authorized treatment, or two years from the last weekly benefit payment. Subsection (b) gives death claims one year from the date of death. Last amended in 1978 (Ga. L. 1978, p. 2220).

What does it mean for you?

There are two deadlines in a Georgia work injury, and people confuse them. The first is 30 days to tell your employer. The second is this one: one year to file an actual claim with the State Board. Reporting the injury is not filing a claim. Getting a few weeks of treatment paid for is not filing a claim. The claim is a specific form, the WC-14, filed with the Board.

The extensions are where most disputes live. If your employer’s insurer paid for your doctor visits, the one year runs from the last visit it paid for, not from the injury. If it paid you weekly checks, you have two years from the last check. Those extensions sound helpful, and they are, but they also mean the insurer can stop paying quietly and let the clock run while you assume the claim is “open.”

“Barred” means the Board cannot hear your claim at all. There is no appeal for a good reason. So the rule for every injured worker is the same: if you are still hurt, still treating, or still out of work and no claim has been filed with the Board, file it, even if the insurer is currently paying. Filing costs nothing and protects everything.

Related Georgia laws

• O.C.G.A. § 34-9-80: the 30 day deadline to report the injury to your employer
• O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11: the exclusive remedy rule and the third party exception
• Every Georgia injury deadline on one page

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated on legis.ga.gov (official text)
• O.C.G.A. § 34-9-82 on Justia (2025 Georgia Code)
• Text verified against the published code on 2026-10-16. Statute text is public record. Nothing on this page is legal advice about your specific case.

What should you do next?

Not sure whether a claim was ever filed for your work injury, or when your last paid treatment was? Those two dates decide whether you still have a case. We can find out in one call.

Call Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. at 770-820-0711, any hour, any day. The call is free, the case review is free, and there is zero fee unless we win. Nine offices across Georgia, and we come to you if you cannot come to us.

One more thing. Don’t sign anything from an insurance company before you talk to a lawyer. A signature on the wrong form can give away rights you did not know you had.