Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act,
33 U.S.C. §§ 901–50

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act was passed in 1927 to provide workers’ compensation coverage to employees injured upon navigable waters and dry docks. It has since been expanded to also cover workers injured upon both non-floating seaward structures like piers and docks, as well as areas on the land near the waterline if those employees are harbor workers or their jobs involve longshoring operations (loading or unloading vessels), shipbuilding, ship repair, or ship breaking. Various categories of workers are excluded so long as the employee would otherwise qualify for state workers’ compensation benefits.

The Longshore Act also applies via the Defense Base Act (DBA) to civilian contractors injured while on military bases abroad or working under United States contracts for work abroad, to many civilians working for the United States military who are covered by the Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act, and to workers covered by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

The Longshore Act compensates qualifying deaths, injuries, or diseases that occur in the course and scope of employment. An injured Longshore Act worker is entitled to receive medical care from his or her own free choice treating physician (or physicians if multiple specialties are required). In addition to medical care, disability compensation might be due to compensate for wage loss, most often in the amount of two-thirds of the wage loss attributable to the injury. In many cases, though, the benefits calculation is much more complicated than that. There are maximum and minimum caps, with the current weekly maximum compensation rate being $1,632.70 and the current weekly minimum for total disability being $408.18. These figures are determined by the Department of Labor every year and posted at their website: https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/NAWWinfo.htm. Common areas of dispute include what a claimant earned before the injury, what he or she can earn since the injury, and—if the injury is one of the enumerated “scheduled” injuries—how many weeks of compensation are due based upon the severity of the condition. An attorney can help you navigate these issues and develop the evidence needed to ensure you receive the appropriate benefits.

If a claim is not timely filed, or notice of the injury is not timely provided to the employer, the claim may be time-barred. In general, for a traumatic injury, the employee must provide notice to his or her employer of the injury within 30 days of when he or she realized—or should have realized—the full nature and extent of his or her disability, including the connection between the injury, the disability, and his or her employment. The employee also generally has one year after that realization to file a claim for benefits with the Department of Labor. For occupational diseases, those time frames are one year to give notice and two years to file an injury claim. Having said that, there are many caveats that can extend time, so even if you fear the time to file may have passed, there is still a strong chance that it has not.

There is not a strict requirement that the Department of Labor forms be used to provide notice or file a claim, but it is best to use them. The form to provide notice (form LS-201) is available here: https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/ls-201.pdf. The form to file a claim (form LS-203) is available here: https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/ls-203.pdf. Both have directions on the second page. If you hire an attorney, the attorney should help you fill out the proper forms and submit them, but if you do not want to hire an attorney right now, and there is a chance you may be nearing a deadline, you should consider filing the forms to avoid having your claim time-barred.

If you believe that you may have a claim under the Longshore Act, please consider contacting Merrigan Legal without delay for a free consultation.