Your Rights to Workers’ Compensation under the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 USC Sec. 901-950.
If you are a longshore worker and have been injured on the job, you may have the right to benefits and compensation under state and/or federal law. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, most longshoremen hurt on the job are covered by the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
The Longshore and Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act was enacted in 1927 to provide no-fault workers’ compensation benefits to longshoremen injured in the navigable waters of the United States. This means that injured longshoremen do not have to prove that their employer was negligent or at fault for their harbor job injury. These benefits also extend to longshoremen injured within three miles of shore, including docks along the shore. Workers typically covered under this act include harbor workers, shipbuilders, ship breakers, and ship repairmen. If you are unsure if you are covered by the Act, please contact Keches Law Group and an experienced Keches Law Group Attorney will help you determine if you are covered.
Injured employees that are covered under the Longshore Workers’ Compensation Act may be entitled to one or more of the following benefits*:
- Medical Care- This benefit includes all medical, surgical, and hospital treatment and other medical supplies and services required by the employment related injury, as well as the cost of travel and mileage incidental to such treatment.
- Disability Compensation – Longshoreman Workers Compensation is paid every two weeks during an employee’s total disability because of a work-related injury. Compensation is paid at a lesser rate if the employee is only partially disabled for his regular work.
- Permanent Total & Temporary Total Disability – Longshoreman Workers Compensation is two-thirds of the employee’s average weekly wage, subject to a maximum amount. This maximum rate changes each October, based on the current National Average Weekly Wage for the affected period.
- Permanent Partial Disability– Longshoreman Workers Compensation is payable for the permanent loss or loss of use of certain parts or functions of the body, such as the loss of the arm, hand, fingers, leg, foot, toes, hearing or vision. Compensation is payable for a certain number of weeks for each type of disability as specified in the Act.
- Temporary Partial and Non-scheduled Permanent Partial Disability – Compensation is two-thirds of the employee’s weekly wage loss or loss of wage-earning capacity.
- Permanent Partial Disability for Retirees – If a worker suffers the onset of a latent occupational disease after retirement, compensation is two-thirds of the National Average Weekly Wage (NAWW) multiplied by the percentage of impairment resulting from the disease.
3. Rehabilitation – Vocational rehabilitation may include evaluation, testing, counseling, selective placement, and retraining.
4. Death Benefits – are paid to a widow or widower or other eligible survivors if the injury causes the employee’s death. Reasonable funeral expenses are paid, up to a maximum of $3,000.
- A widow / widower – the deceased worker’s spouse receives 50% of the average weekly wage of the employee for life or until remarriage.
- Child / Children – Additionally, 16 2/3% of the employee’s average weekly wage is payable for one or more children. If children are the sole survivors, 50% of the employee’s average weekly wage is paid on behalf of the first child. Where more than one child is entitled to benefits, a maximum of 66 2/3% applies, shared equally. Other eligible survivors may include parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and grand-children only if they were dependent on the employee.
If you or a loved one is a disabled dock or harbor worker and you are trying to make sure that you collect the maximum Longshore Benefits, the experienced attorneys at Keches Law Group are happy to help. Our caring lawyers will talk with you, to examine your unique circumstances, and will help you fight to ensure that your rights are protected and you are collecting the benefits you deserve. Call us today at 617-898-0808.
*Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and you may be entitled to additional benefits. Please contact Keches Law Group Today to speak with an experienced attorney that can help you determine your rights to benefits.
