Can I Use Sick Pay Instead of Workers’ Compensation; Can I Draw Both?

The law says you cannot receive workers' compensation benefits and draw full salary while you are recovering from an injury. But what if you are using your sick pay balance? Sick leave payments are not the same as salary payments. Sick pay is not regular wages.

In the case of Glisson v. Rooms to Go, 270 Ga. App. 689, 608 S.E.2d 50 (2004) the Court of Appeals held that “leave time… is an employee benefit, not a regular wage.” (Id. At Ga App.p.694). In this case Judge Ruffin specifically said:

an employee who is required to forego leave benefits in lieu of receiving workers' compensation benefits sustains an economic injury, because if for example she ‘must miss work due to illness or injury unrelated to her employment, her economic ability to weather the storm is compromised because she used personal leave when she was entitled to receive workers' compensation income benefits.'

So, in conclusion, your sick pay benefits are not salary in lieu of compensation benefits and your employer cannot take credit for them in your case.