IAIABC Member Spotlight

Each month, the IAIABC highlights one of its member organizations, asking about what the organization does; what challenges it sees workers' compensation facing; and why they're involved with the IAIABC. Find past member spotlights here. 

IAIABC: Please provide an organizational overview (number of employees, years in business, vision)

Delece Brooks, Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation: The State Board of Workers’ Compensation (Board) was established in 1920 by the Georgia Legislature to oversee the administration of the workers’ compensation law that ensures employees receive certain benefits paid to them as a result of on-the-job injuries. The law also provides employers with a form of limited liability from these injuries.

The Workers’ Compensation Act is applicable to all employers including public corporations and nonprofit organizations that have at least three full-time, part-time, or seasonal employees. However, some categories of workers are exempt including federal employees, railroad workers, farmers, domestic servants, business partners, independent contractors, and some corporate officers.

By statute, the Board is a three-member Board of Directors appointed by the Governor who serve four-year terms with one Board member appointed as the Chairman of the Board. Chairman Ben Vinson, Directors Frank McKay and Neera Bahl are the current Board members. The Executive Director, Delece Brooks, is appointed by the three-member Board. The three-member Board may create rules, regulations and policies to enforce the workers’ compensation law.

The Board is also vested with the responsibility of conducting training seminars that educate employers, employees, insurers, self-insurers, physicians, and rehabilitation suppliers about the workers’ compensation law changes and other related issues. As part of this educational function, the Board sponsors regional seminars each year in cities throughout the state and a three-day Annual Conference in Atlanta with over 1,100 attendees, exhibitors and sponsors for all stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system.

The Board’s headquarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia, with six Field Offices located in Albany, Columbus, Dalton, Gainesville, Macon and Savannah. The Board consists of eleven divisions which assist in the handling and processing of workers’ compensation claims throughout the state. The Board receives over 120,000 workers’ compensation claims each year. 

Mission: To provide superior access to the Georgia Workers' Compensation system for injured workers and employers in a manner that is sensitive, responsive, and effective and to ensure efficient processing and swift, fair resolution of claims, while encouraging workplace safety and return to work.

Vision: To function as a service-orientated organization that treats customers with respect, responsiveness, sensitivity, attentiveness, and honesty. The agency strives for excellence through innovation, personal initiative, and teamwork and staff development, along with managing resources effectively to achieve positive results.

IAIABC: How does your organization serve the workers’ compensation industry?

DB: The Board plays a vital role in serving the State and the workers’ compensation industry by maintaining a fair and balanced system. Before the enactment of the Workers' Compensation Act, employees injured on the job had little hope of receiving benefits from their employers. Men, women, and even children often endured harsh and unsafe working conditions with no meaningful recourse for work-related injuries. Courts frequently denied claims, citing that workers had assumed the risks of their jobs, were negligent themselves, or were barred from recovery due to the actions of a fellow employee. Pursuing a lawsuit was rarely a viable option —trials were costly, time-consuming, and impractical for injured workers who needed immediate financial support for medical care and lost wages. Moreover, a successful lawsuit could potentially bankrupt a small business.

Today, workers’ compensation law ensures that employees receive defined benefits for injuries sustained in the course of employment—regardless of fault—while also limiting the employer’s liability. In Georgia, employers secure workers’ compensation coverage through private insurance carriers or self-insurance programs. The law provides employees with specific rights and benefits, while also preventing them from pursuing additional legal action against their employer for the same injury.

By administering the Act, the Board helps preserve this essential balance. Eligible injured workers receive timely benefits to support them during recovery and help them return to work. At the same time, employers are protected from further legal exposure related to covered workplace injuries.

IAIABC: What do you see as some of the major challenges the industry is facing, and how can we as a community address them?

DB: Uninsured Employers
Uninsured employers are a challenge for the system. Georgia workers’ compensation law requires employers with three or more employees to have workers’ compensation insurance or be self-insured to cover work accidents and provide benefits to injured workers. The Georgia SBWC’s Enforcement Division has a Compliance Unit with staff members dedicated to ensuring employers have workers’ compensation insurance, but even with all their work, the Board still sees claims with employers who do not have workers’ compensation insurance. As a community, employers (even small employers) need to be educated about the requirement to have workers’ compensation insurance to protect their workers if an injury occurs. Uninsured workers’ compensation claims can result in dire consequences for the injured employee in collecting workers’ compensation benefits and the employer in having to directly provide workers’ compensation benefits.

More Safety Initiatives
Employers need to be more educated about the advantages of having good safety programs to help prevent injuries in the workplace. Having programs in place that prevent accidents and injuries in the first place will keep employees on the job and lower workers’ compensation premiums.

IAIABC: Are there any projects/programs/initiatives going on at your organization that you are particularly excited or enthusiastic about?

DB: We continue to align our strategy with the Governor's vision of a streamlined, accessible government that leverages technology to best use limited state resources. We have an electronic claims processing system, Integrated Claims Management System (ICMS), through which we administer and process all workers' compensation claims in Georgia. Over 8,600 users access the system. We continue to update the services offered within the system and expand access to the system for constituents and workers' compensation stakeholders.

Currently, we provide access to ICMS to workers' compensation attorneys, insurers, self-insurers, group funds, claims office users, and workers' compensation rehabilitation suppliers. Being a registered user in ICMS provides workers’ compensation stakeholders direct access to claim files and needed documents, allows them to electronically submit required documents and receive swift and efficient processing of claims.

To further enhance efficiency and access, the Board now controls the software used to create the required workers' compensation forms. The Board forms are free and available in a fillable format for printing or downloading from our website. Stakeholders can now file Form WC-12 Request for Copy of Board Records electronically in ICMS, which allows faster processing of the request. It has been received very well by the stakeholders.

IAIABC: What's an interesting fact about your organization that most people don't know?

DB: We are small but mighty! Although we have only 120 employees, we are efficient and highly productive. In fiscal year 2025, the Board received a total of 12,902 requests just for copies of Board records and processed 12,234 of them within the fiscal year. Our Settlements Division processed over 20,000 settlement agreements in fiscal year 2025, and our Call Center serviced 18,987 calls.

Previous Member Spotlights

2025 Member Spotlights

Ametros - November 2025
Sapiens - October 2025
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's Workers' Compensation Division - September 2025
Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation - August 2025
Sentry Insurance - June 2025
Enlyte - May 2025
Linea Solutions: Special Edition - April 2025
Washington State Department of Labor and Industry - March 2025
WCF Insurance - January 2025