The "All Issues" Statute of Limitations

A legal term gets thrown around at times that a lot of people might not understand—“statute of limitations.” In essence, this concept says that you only have a certain period of time during which you can file a lawsuit after the event happened which gave rise to the claim (like a work injury or a breached contract). An easy way to remember what it means is by its abbreviation: SOL. As in, once the period expires, you are “sure/simply/so out of luck.” Cough cough.

In a workers’ compensation context, if you’ve been physically injured at work, Georgia recognizes two (2) different statutes of limitation: a “change in condition” SOL and an “all issues” SOL. The “change in condition” SOL, which will be addressed in a later post, applies when a judge has actually issued a specific ruling on your condition at some time after the work accident, or if the Employer has accepted liability and is CURRENTLY paying you weekly income benefits.

However, in the situation of “I was hurt at work, I am not currently receiving weekly income benefits, how long do I have to file my claim?”, it is the “all issues” SOL that applies. Notably, even if the Employer IS providing you with medical care (but isn’t currently paying weekly income benefits), the “all issues” SOL still applies.

As outlined by Georgia law, there are three (3) measuring periods which are covered by the “all issues” SOL. The applicable measuring period depends on the set of facts in your case:

1. One year from the date of injury. Note that this is the date of “injury,” and not “accident.” Thus, this time period begins to run only after the injury manifests itself. This period applies if the Employer never pays for your medical care and never pays you weekly income benefits—basically, if they just ignore the accident.
2. One year from the last medical treatment provided by the Employer. If the Employer keeps providing (paying for) your medical treatment, the statute keeps restarting itself.
3. Two years from the Employer’s last payment of weekly income benefits. If the Employer was paying you weekly income benefits and subsequently stopped, the statute would begin to run on the last date the income benefits were paid.

Which statute of limitations applies to you and how much time you have to file a claim can be a very complicated matter. And, if the “all issues” SOL has expired, it will prevent you from being able to receive any income benefits or medical care in the future—so, needless to say, a lot is on the line. If you have any questions regarding your workers’ compensation claim, please let us know so we can assist you with the process.