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The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its extensions,
administered by the U. S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards
Administration, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, provide medical
benefits, compensation for lost wages, and rehabilitation services to employees
who are injured during the course of employment or contract an occupational
disease related to employment. Survivor benefits also are provided if the
work-related injury or disease causes, contributes to, or hastens the
employee's death.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act provides
employment-injury and occupational-disease protection to approximately 500,000
workers who are injured or contract occupational diseases occurring on the
navigable waters of the United States, or in adjoining areas, and for certain
other classes of workers covered by extensions of this Act.
These benefits are paid directly by an authorized self-insured employer;
or through an authorized insurance carrier; or, in particular circumstances, by
a Special Fund administered directly by the Division of Longshore Compensation.
In addition to longshore, harbor, and other maritime workers, LHWCA
covers a variety of other employees through the following extensions to the
Act: The District of Columbia Workmen's Compensation Act (enacted in 1928 and
repealed effective July 26, 1982); Defense Base Act (1941); Nonappropriated
Fund Instrumentalities Act (1952); and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(1953).
Our program's commitment to you is to:
- Ensure that your employer provides prompt medical attention to you
and insure that your treatment is provided by a physician that you select;
- Ensure that your employer/insurance carrier promptly pays initial
compensation benefits due to you;
- Address all issues in dispute when an informal conference is
conducted. Make specific written recommendations on these issues within 10 days
of this conference;
- Ensure that all correspondence submitted to you by Department of
Labor personnel is easy to understand; and
- Respond to all communications from you in a courteous and
professional manner.
A random survey of Longshore claimants around the country revealed that
most claimants were satisfied with the service provided by our district
offices. However, there were some concerns expressed in the following
areas:
Claimants are not always being advised by their employers at the time of
injury that they have a free choice of physician under the provisions of the
Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. However, the majority indicated
that they were provided with prompt medical attention.
Some claimants also complained that the initial payment of compensation
is not being made timely by the self-insured employer or the insurance
carriers.
To improve service in these areas, we have taken the following
actions:
- We circulated the results of the surveys to all Longshore district
offices, so that they are aware of the responses to the survey questions.
- Through the on-going technical assistance program that each district
office already has in place, special emphasis will be placed on advising
employers of their responsibilities to pay compensation promptly and to display
notices to employees, in conspicuous locations, that advise them of their
rights under the Act, including the right to a free choice of physician.
- An Industry Notice (Customer Satisfaction Survey Results - Industry
Notice FY94) was issued to all authorized self insured employers and insurance
carriers outlining the concerns cited by claimants in the survey and
emphasizing their responsibilities in these areas. Access this Industry
Notice (and other available Industry Notices).
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