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Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act

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Statute Profile
Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act
Enacted 1927 (amended 1972, 1984)
Citation 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq.
Administered by U.S. DOL — OWCP (DLHWC)
Covers Longshore, shipyard & harbor workers
Excludes Seamen (Jones Act); federal employees (FECA)
Disability rate 66⅔% of average weekly wage
Max weekly (eff. Oct 1, 2025) $2,082.70
Asbestos filing window 2 years from awareness of disease

Executive Summary

The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), codified at 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., is the federal workers' compensation program covering most private-sector maritime employees — including shipyard workers, longshoremen, ship repairers, and harbor construction workers — who are injured or who develop occupational disease on the navigable waters of the United States or in adjoining areas such as piers, dry docks, and terminals.[1][2] Enacted in 1927 and administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, the statute is a primary compensation pathway for the maritime and shipyard workforce that suffered heavy occupational asbestos exposure through the mid-twentieth century. Because asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma surface decades after exposure, the Act's occupational-disease provisions — and its interaction with the Jones Act, asbestos trust funds, and third-party litigation — are central to how these claims are resolved.[3][4]

At a Glance

  • Enacted: 1927 — Act of March 4, 1927, ch. 509, 44 Stat. 1424; significantly expanded by the 1972 amendments (Pub. L. 92–576) and renamed by the 1984 amendments (Pub. L. 98–426).[5][6]
  • Citation: 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. (Title 33, Chapter 18).[5]
  • Administering agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation (DLHWC).[7]
  • Who is covered: Maritime employees working on navigable waters or adjoining loading, unloading, repairing, or shipbuilding areas — longshoremen, shipbuilders, ship repairers, and harbor workers.[2][1]
  • Who is excluded: Masters and crew members of a vessel (seamen, who fall under the Jones Act), federal employees (covered by FECA), and certain small-vessel and recreational workers.[2][1]
  • Benefit types: Disability compensation, medical treatment, death benefits, and vocational rehabilitation.[8][9]
  • Disability rate: Two-thirds (66⅔%) of the worker's average weekly wage, subject to a national maximum and minimum.[8][10]
  • Asbestos relevance: A two-year filing window runs from the date the worker becomes aware of the link between employment and disease, and the "last responsible employer" doctrine assigns liability in multi-employer shipyard exposure cases.[3][11]
  • Third-party recoveries are not free-standing: § 933(f) offsets LHWCA liability by the net amount recovered from a third party, and § 933(g) terminates all rights to compensation and medical benefits where a below-entitlement settlement is executed without prior written approval from the employer and its carrier, and by the person entitled to compensation, or where the employer is not notified of any third-party settlement or judgment.[12]

Key Facts

Measure Detail (Source)
Statutory citation 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. (Title 33, Chapter 18)[5]
Enacted / amended 1927; major amendments 1972 (Pub. L. 92–576) and 1984 (Pub. L. 98–426)[6]
Administering agency U.S. DOL — OWCP, Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation[7]
Disability rate 66⅔% of average weekly wage[8]
Max / min weekly rate $2,082.70 / $520.68 (effective Oct 1, 2025)[10]
Asbestos filing window 2 years from awareness of the employment–disease link[3]
Multi-employer liability "Last responsible employer" doctrine (Cardillo, 1955)[11]
Jones Act distinction LHWCA = land-side maritime workers; Jones Act = seamen[13]
Third-party suit § 905(b) negligence action against a vessel preserved[14]
Third-party settlement § 933(f) offsets benefits against the net third-party recovery; § 933(g) terminates all compensation and medical benefits where the required approvals (employer, carrier, and the person entitled to compensation) or notice are missing[12]

History of the Act

Before 1927, maritime workers injured on the navigable waters of the United States occupied a legal gap: the U.S. Supreme Court had held that state workers' compensation laws could not constitutionally reach injuries occurring on navigable waters, yet no federal compensation program existed to fill the space.[4] Congress responded with the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, enacted as the Act of March 4, 1927 (ch. 509, 44 Stat. 1424), providing compensation and medical benefits to maritime employees — other than the master or crew of a vessel — injured while working on the navigable waters of the United States.[5][6]

The original 1927 statute extended only to the "water's edge." The 1972 amendments (Pub. L. 92–576) reshaped the program in three important ways: they replaced the strict water's-edge boundary with a two-part "status and situs" test that moved coverage landward to "adjoining areas" customarily used for loading, unloading, repairing, or building vessels; they substantially raised benefit levels so that LHWCA benefits generally exceed those available under state compensation laws; and they restructured the relationship between injured workers and vessel owners by eliminating the "unseaworthiness" remedy against vessels while preserving a negligence action.[6][14] The 1984 amendments (Pub. L. 98–426) refined coverage and benefit provisions and changed the program's formal name from "Longshoremen's" to "Longshore" and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, the title in use today.[5]

Coverage: Who Qualifies?

LHWCA coverage turns on a combined status and situs test. The status requirement asks whether the worker is engaged in "maritime employment"; the situs requirement asks whether the injury occurred on a covered location.[4] The statute defines the covered location broadly. Under 33 U.S.C. § 902(4), coverage reaches employment "upon the navigable waters of the United States (including any adjoining pier, wharf, dry dock, terminal, building way, marine railway, or other adjoining area customarily used by an employer in loading, unloading, repairing, or building a vessel)."[2] Section 903 confirms that compensation is payable "only if the disability or death results from an injury occurring upon the navigable waters of the United States."[1]

Covered workers typically include longshoremen, stevedores, ship repairers, shipbuilders, and harbor construction workers. The statute expressly excludes several groups:

  • Seamen. Section 902(3) provides that the term "employee" "does not include … a master or member of a crew of any vessel." Seamen instead pursue remedies under the Jones Act (discussed below).[2]
  • Federal employees. Officers and employees of the United States are excluded and are instead covered by the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA).[1]
  • Intoxication and willful injury. No compensation is payable where the injury was occasioned solely by the worker's intoxication or by a willful intention to injure or kill.[1]
  • Certain small-vessel and recreational workers, subject to statutory exceptions tied to navigable waters, federal subsidy, or the availability of state coverage.[1]

What Benefits Does the LHWCA Provide?

The Act provides four principal categories of benefits, anchored in 33 U.S.C. §§ 908–910.[8]

  • Disability compensation. For permanent total disability and for temporary total disability, the statute pays "66⅔ per centum of the average weekly wages" during the continuance of the disability. The Act also provides scheduled awards for permanent partial disability and benefits for temporary partial disability.[8]
  • Medical treatment. The Act covers the cost of medical, surgical, and hospital treatment and other reasonable and necessary care for the work-related condition.[7]
  • Death benefits. Where a covered injury or occupational disease results in death, surviving dependents are entitled to death benefits and funeral expenses under 33 U.S.C. § 909.[9]
  • Vocational rehabilitation. The program provides vocational rehabilitation services to help disabled workers return to suitable employment.[7]

Disability compensation is bounded by a national maximum and minimum rate that the Department of Labor adjusts each October 1 under Section 10(f) of the Act. For the period beginning October 1, 2025, the National Average Weekly Wage (NAWW) is $1,041.35; the maximum weekly compensation rate (200% of the NAWW) is $2,082.70, and the minimum rate (50% of the NAWW) is $520.68. These figures reflect a 4.18% Section 10(f) increase over the prior period.[10]

Filing and Administration

The LHWCA is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor through the OWCP Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation, which operates district offices that process claims and resolve disputes.[7] An injured worker generally files a claim with the OWCP district office; contested claims may be referred to a Department of Labor administrative law judge, with further review available before the Benefits Review Board and, ultimately, the federal courts of appeals.[7]

Time limits are governed by 33 U.S.C. § 913. The general rule bars a claim "unless a claim therefore is filed within one year after the injury or death." For occupational disease, however, the statute extends the window: a claim "for death or disability due to an occupational disease which does not immediately result in such death or disability" is timely if filed "within two years after the employee or claimant becomes aware … of the relationship between the employment, the disease, and the death or disability," or within one year of the last compensation payment, whichever is later.[3] This awareness-based two-year rule is what makes the LHWCA workable for latency-period diseases such as mesothelioma, where the diagnosis can arrive forty or more years after the exposure.

How Does the LHWCA Apply to Asbestos Disease?

Asbestos litigation tests the LHWCA's occupational-disease machinery more than almost any other condition, because shipyards and ports were among the most heavily asbestos-exposed workplaces of the twentieth century and because the resulting diseases have exceptionally long latency.[4]

Latency and the filing clock. Because § 913's two-year clock for occupational disease runs from the worker's awareness of the connection between employment and disease — not from the date of exposure — a worker exposed in a 1960s shipyard who is diagnosed with mesothelioma decades later can still file a timely LHWCA claim.[3]

The "last responsible employer" doctrine. Where a worker was exposed to asbestos across several maritime employers, the LHWCA does not apportion liability among them. Under the rule established in Travelers Insurance Co. v. Cardillo, 225 F.2d 137 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 913 (1955), the last maritime employer that exposed the worker to injurious stimuli before the worker became aware of the disease is liable for the full award. An actual causal contribution by that final exposure is not required; potential to cause the disease is enough.[11] This rule simplifies recovery for workers but makes employer and insurer identification a central battleground in shipyard asbestos claims.

The dual pathway against vessel owners. Although LHWCA benefits are the exclusive remedy against a worker's employer under 33 U.S.C. § 905(a), Section 905(b) preserves a separate negligence action against a vessel as a third party. A longshore or shipyard worker injured by the negligence of a vessel may therefore collect LHWCA compensation from the employer and, in addition, bring a § 905(b) negligence suit against the vessel owner — a combination unavailable to most land-based industrial workers.[14]

Concurrent claims. An LHWCA claim does not foreclose other asbestos recovery. Covered workers frequently pursue asbestos trust fund claims against bankrupt manufacturers and product-liability litigation against asbestos suppliers in parallel with their LHWCA benefits, subject to statutory offset and lien rules.[1]

Section 933: Offset, Employer Approval, and Forfeiture

The offset and lien rules referred to above are set out in 33 U.S.C. § 933, and for an asbestos claimant they are the most consequential provisions in the statute. Running an LHWCA claim alongside a third-party asbestos suit is permitted, but it is not unconditional.

The offset (§ 933(f)). Where the worker recovers from a third party, the employer is required to pay "a sum equal to the excess of the amount which the Secretary determines is payable on account of such injury or death over the net amount recovered against such third person." The statute defines that net amount as "the actual amount recovered less the expenses reasonably incurred by such person in respect to such proceedings (including reasonable attorneys' fees)."[12] In practice the employer's obligation is reduced by the third-party recovery rather than paid on top of it.

The approval requirement (§ 933(g)(1)). Where the worker settles with a third party "for an amount less than the compensation to which the person (or the person's representative) would be entitled under this chapter," the employer remains liable for the § 933(f) excess only if written approval of the settlement is obtained from the employer and the employer's carrier before the settlement is executed, and by the person entitled to compensation (or that person's representative). That approval must be made on a form provided by the Secretary and filed with the deputy commissioner within thirty days after the settlement is entered into.[12]

The forfeiture (§ 933(g)(2)). The consequence of failing either requirement is stated in absolute terms. If no written approval is obtained and filed as required, "or if the employee fails to notify the employer of any settlement obtained from or judgment rendered against a third person, all rights to compensation and medical benefits under this chapter shall be terminated, regardless of whether the employer or the employer's insurer has made payments or acknowledged entitlement to benefits under this chapter."[12]

Two features of that sentence deserve emphasis for asbestos claimants. First, the notification duty in the second clause is not limited to below-entitlement settlements — it reaches any third-party settlement or judgment. Second, the termination reaches medical benefits, not only wage compensation, and applies regardless of whether benefits were already being paid. For a mesothelioma patient whose treatment is being covered under the Act, an unapproved or unreported settlement can therefore end coverage of ongoing cancer care.

Because asbestos claimants commonly settle with many defendants and trusts over an extended period, and because each such settlement may independently trigger § 933(g), the sequencing and documentation of settlements in an LHWCA case is a matter for counsel experienced in the Act. It should be resolved before any settlement agreement is signed.

How Is the LHWCA Different from the Jones Act?

The single most consequential distinction in maritime asbestos claims is between the LHWCA and the Jones Act, because the two statutes cover mutually exclusive populations and offer different remedies.[4]

The LHWCA covers land-side and harbor maritime workers — those working on docks, in shipyards, and in adjoining areas. The Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 30104) covers seamen — the masters and crew members of a vessel in navigation, who are expressly excluded from the LHWCA's definition of "employee."[2][13] The two regimes differ in remedy: the LHWCA is a no-fault compensation system, while the Jones Act allows a seaman to bring a negligence lawsuit against the employer, with the prospect of broader damages including pain and suffering.[13]

Whether a given worker is a "seaman" (Jones Act) or a covered "employee" (LHWCA) is decided by the worker's status at the time of injury. In Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995), the Supreme Court held that seaman status requires an employment-related connection to a vessel in navigation that is "substantial in terms of both its duration and its nature," such that the worker is "part of the vessel's crew" rather than a land-based employee who happens to be aboard.[15] A worker who fails the seaman-status test typically falls within LHWCA coverage instead. Because the statutes are mutually exclusive, correctly classifying the worker is the threshold question in any maritime asbestos claim.

Several statutes extend or parallel the LHWCA:

  • Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. § 1651). The DBA extends LHWCA coverage to civilian employees of U.S. government contractors working overseas, applying the LHWCA's benefit framework to that workforce.[16]
  • Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. § 1333). The OCSLA extends LHWCA coverage to workers engaged in resource-extraction operations on the Outer Continental Shelf.[17]
  • Veterans' benefits. The LHWCA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability system are separate programs. A veteran who served aboard ship and was later employed in a covered civilian maritime occupation may have both a VA disability claim tied to military service and an LHWCA claim tied to civilian shipyard work; the two are evaluated independently and should not be conflated.[4]

Frequently Asked Questions

Who qualifies for LHWCA benefits?

Most private-sector maritime employees injured on the navigable waters of the United States or in adjoining areas qualify — longshoremen, stevedores, ship repairers, shipbuilders, and harbor construction workers. The statute excludes the master and crew of a vessel (seamen), federal employees, and certain small-vessel and recreational workers.[2][1]

How is the LHWCA different from the Jones Act?

The LHWCA covers land-side and harbor maritime workers under a no-fault compensation system. The Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 30104) covers seamen — crew members of a vessel in navigation — and allows a negligence lawsuit against the employer. The two are mutually exclusive; the worker's status at the time of injury, under the test in Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, determines which applies.[2][13][15]

What is the deadline to file an asbestos claim under the LHWCA?

For occupational disease that does not immediately cause disability or death, a claim is timely if filed within two years after the worker becomes aware of the relationship between the employment and the disease (or within one year of the last compensation payment, whichever is later). Because the clock runs from awareness rather than exposure, latency-period diseases such as mesothelioma remain claimable decades after exposure.[3]

What benefits does the LHWCA pay?

Disability compensation at two-thirds (66⅔%) of average weekly wages, subject to a national maximum and minimum; full medical treatment for the work-related condition; death benefits and funeral expenses for surviving dependents; and vocational rehabilitation. For the period beginning October 1, 2025, the maximum weekly rate is $2,082.70 and the minimum is $520.68.[8][9][10]

Can my family file a death benefit claim?

Yes. Where a covered injury or occupational disease results in death, surviving dependents are entitled to death benefits and funeral expenses under 33 U.S.C. § 909, filed through the OWCP district office.[9][7]

Can I file an LHWCA claim and an asbestos trust fund claim at the same time?

Yes. An LHWCA claim against a covered employer does not foreclose claims against asbestos trust funds or product-liability suits against asbestos suppliers. These run in parallel, subject to the statute's offset and lien rules.[1] Those rules bite: § 933(f) offsets your LHWCA benefits by the net third-party recovery, and § 933(g) can terminate your compensation and medical benefits entirely if a settlement is unapproved or unreported.[12]

Do I need my employer's permission before settling an asbestos lawsuit?

In an LHWCA case, often yes. Under 33 U.S.C. § 933(g)(1), a third-party settlement for less than your LHWCA entitlement requires written approval from your employer and its carrier before the settlement is executed, and approval by you as the person entitled to compensation (or your representative), filed within thirty days. Separately, you must notify your employer of any third-party settlement or judgment. Miss either and § 933(g)(2) terminates "all rights to compensation and medical benefits under this chapter."[12] Clear every settlement with your attorney first; the offset and forfeiture rules are set out in full in the Section 933 discussion above.

If a vessel's negligence injured me, can I sue the vessel owner?

Yes. While LHWCA benefits are the exclusive remedy against your employer, 33 U.S.C. § 905(b) preserves a negligence action against a vessel as a third party. A covered worker can collect LHWCA compensation and separately sue a negligent vessel owner.[14]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 33 U.S.C. § 903 — Coverage, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 33 U.S.C. § 902 — Definitions, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Subsection (3) excludes "a master or member of a crew of any vessel"; subsection (4) defines covered "navigable waters" to include adjoining piers, dry docks, terminals, and shipbuilding areas.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 33 U.S.C. § 913 — Filing of claims, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Occupational disease claims that do not immediately cause disability or death are timely if filed within two years of the claimant's awareness of the employment-disease relationship.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA): Overview of Workers' Compensation for Certain Private-Sector Maritime Workers, Congressional Research Service Report R41506.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 33 U.S.C. § 901 — Short title, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. Original enactment: Act of Mar. 4, 1927, ch. 509, 44 Stat. 1424; amended by Pub. L. 92–576 (1972) and Pub. L. 98–426 (1984).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 A Brief History of the Longshore Act; and Congressional Research Service Report R41506. The 1972 amendments (Pub. L. 92–576) extended coverage landward via a status-and-situs test, raised benefit levels, and eliminated the unseaworthiness remedy against vessels while preserving a negligence action.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation (DLHWC), Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 33 U.S.C. § 908 — Compensation for disability, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Permanent total and temporary total disability are compensated at "66⅔ per centum of the average weekly wages."
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 33 U.S.C. § 909 — Compensation for death, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 National Average Weekly Wages (NAWW), Minimum and Maximum Compensation Rates, and Annual October Increases (Section 10(f)), Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor. Effective October 1, 2025: NAWW $1,041.35; maximum $2,082.70; minimum $520.68.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Travelers Insurance Co. v. Cardillo, 225 F.2d 137 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 913 (1955), as summarized in the USDOL/OALJ Longshore Benchbook, U.S. Department of Labor. Establishes the "last responsible employer" rule for occupational disease under the LHWCA.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 33 U.S.C. § 933 — Compensation for injuries where third persons are liable, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Subsection (f) requires the employer to pay "a sum equal to the excess of the amount which the Secretary determines is payable on account of such injury or death over the net amount recovered against such third person." Subsection (g)(1) conditions that liability, where the settlement is for less than the worker's entitlement, on written approval from the employer and the employer's carrier before the settlement is executed, and by the person entitled to compensation (or that person's representative), filed with the deputy commissioner within thirty days. Subsection (g)(2) provides that absent such approval, "or if the employee fails to notify the employer of any settlement obtained from or judgment rendered against a third person, all rights to compensation and medical benefits under this chapter shall be terminated."
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 46 U.S.C. § 30104 — Personal injury to or death of seamen (Jones Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 33 U.S.C. § 905 — Exclusiveness of liability, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Subsection (a) makes employer liability exclusive; subsection (b) preserves a negligence action against a vessel.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Sets the test for "seaman" status under the Jones Act.
  16. ↑ 42 U.S.C. § 1651 — Compensation authorized (Defense Base Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
  17. ↑ 43 U.S.C. § 1333 — Laws and regulations governing lands (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
  • Danziger & De Llano — national mesothelioma and asbestos law firm representing shipyard and maritime workers.
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