Georgia § 104 - Suspension/Reinstatement of Benefits.

§ 104. Suspension/Reinstatement of Benefits.

To unilaterally convert the employee's income benefits from temporary total disability income benefits to temporary partial disability income benefits under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-104(a)(2), the employer/insurer shall file a Form WC-104 with the Board and shall serve the employee and the employee's attorney the Form WC-104 no later than 60 days from the date the employee was released to work with restrictions by the employee's authorized treating physician. In addition, the employer/insurer shall attach to the Form WC-104 the supporting medical report from employee's authorized treating physician demonstrating the employee is capable of performing work with restrictions. After filing the Form WC-104 with the Board and serving the employee and the employee's attorney sufficient and timely notice under section (a), if the employee has been released to work with restrictions for 52 consecutive weeks or 78 aggregate weeks, the employer/insurer may unilaterally convert the employee's income benefits from temporary total disability income benefits to temporary partial disability income benefits by filing a Form WC-2 with the Board. Copies of all filings and supporting documents shall be served on the employee and the employee's attorney, if represented. 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. The date that benefits may be converted from temporary total disability benefits to temporary partial disability benefits shall be determined by the date the employee was released to work with restrictions. The revision effective July 1, 2009, added subsection (c). The revision effective January 1, 2014, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, inserted "file a Form WC-104 with the Board and shall" and substituted "the Form WC-104" for "a Form WC-104", and in the second sentence, inserted "supporting", and "from employee's authorized treating physician" near the middle; in subsection (b), inserted "filing the Form WC-104 with the Board and" in the first sentence, deleted the former second sentence, which read: "When filing the Form WC-2, the employer/insurer shall attach the Form WC-104 and attached medical report.", and in the last sentence inserted "and supporting documents"; in subsection (c), deleted the former first sentence, which read: "If filing via EDI, section (b) 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 served Form WC-104 and supporting medical report from employee's authorized treating physician." and deleted the former last sentence, which read: "Copies of all filings shall be served on the employee and the employee's attorney, if represented." The revision effective July 1, 2016, added subsection (d).