The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 901–950), sometimes referred to as the “Longshore Act” or “LHWCA,” was first enacted in 1927 and constitutes the workers’ compensation system covering maritime workers engaged in employment on navigable waters, including most dock workers and maritime workers, who are not seamen otherwise covered by the Jones Act.

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) was designed to fill the coverage gap between workers’ not injured on navigable workers (who are, therefore, covered by state workers’ compensation laws) and seamen working on vessels covered by the Jones Act. It specifically provides benefits to maritime workers who are not seamen.

While coverage requires that the injury occur on navigable waters, the definition of navigable waters is not restricted to injuries or employments that are actually on water. Maritime work includes:

• loading & unloading vessels
• repairing vessels
• building vessels
• places on land that adjoins water
• piers
• wharves
• dry docks
• terminals
• areas near a pier or wharf
• areas for loading, unloading, repairing, or building vessels.

By several acts of Congress the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) has been adopted as the workers’ compensation system for non-appropriated fund instrumentality employees (Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act), Outer Continental Shelf workers (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or OCSLA), and employees of U.S. government contractors working in foreign countries (Defense Base Act).

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) is administered by a division of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs of the United States Department of Labor called the Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation.

As in most workers’ compensation systems, an injured worker covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) is entitled to medical treatment and expenses, rehabilitation expenses, and temporary total disability compensation in the amount of 2/3 of the employees “average weekly wage” while unable to work and undergoing medical treatment. Once the worker has reached maximum medical improvement, he/she is then entitled to a scheduled award for injury to specifically listed body parts. The scheduled members can be found in 33 U.S.C. § 908(c). In the absence of entitlement to a scheduled award, the injured worker may be entitled to 2/3 of his/her loss of wage earning capacity. If an employee dies as a result of a covered injury, benefits are provided for certain survivors of the deceased employee.

Coverage under the The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act does not depend on a showing of fault by the employer and is not defeated by a showing of fault by the employee. Like most workers’ compensation laws, it is a no-fault system.

As in most workers’ compensation laws, the injured employee may not sue the employer but may file a lawsuit against third parties who caused the injury or damages. These are called third party lawsuits. If a recovery is made in the third party lawsuit, the employer and its workers’ compensation insurance carrier are entitled to repaid off the top of the recovery for all money it has paid on the claim and the injured worker is entitled to amounts remaining after the workers’ compensation insurance carrier has been reimbursed.

There are important deadlines under the The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for providing notice of the injury and for filing the claim, and it is important that the injured worker obtain experienced legal representation. The lawyers at Ashcraft & Gerel have been representing injured workers with claims under the The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for many years, and our attorneys are thoroughly familiar with the procedures and benefits provided by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. If you’d like to speak to a lawyer who handles Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act cases, please fill out our inquiry form on the left side of this page, email us,  or call Robert G. Samet in our Rockville, Maryland office at 301-770-3737, Mark Schaffer in our District of Columbia office at 202-783-6400 or William Mulroney in our Baltimore, Maryland  office at 410-539-1122.