Longshore & Harbor FAQs

If you work around ports, docks, wharves, and ships and you get hurt on the job, you may be able to claim workers’ compensation benefits under the federal Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, a process that’s generally easier than getting workers’ comp under the Louisiana state program.

This is the process for filing for longshore and harbor workers’ compensation benefits:

• Report your injury to your employer.
• Get the medical care you need.
• Talk to a workers’ compensation lawyer.
• File a written report with your employer within 30 days.
• Choose a doctor for ongoing treatment.

Yes, you can receive Social Security Disability and longshore and harbor workers’ comp benefits together.

Social Security, which pays you benefits if you’ll be unable to work for the long term, will likely reduce the amount it sends you to offset what you receive in compensation benefits under the longshore & harbor workers’ comp.

But your longshore & harbor injured worker benefits will likely stay the same when you get Social Security Disability benefits.

As soon as you can after your injury.

Taking the right first steps after an injury on the job can make a difference in getting you the maximum benefits in the end.

You should always immediately focus on getting any needed emergency medical treatment and worry about your workers’ compensation benefits later. But talk to one of our lawyers at the first opportunity you get.

Workers’ compensation lawyers protect you from insurance companies looking for reasons to deny or reduce your benefits. They may try to get a statement from you that damages your claim, for example. A lawyer helps you stand up to them.

This is what you can get:

• Payment for your lost wages when you can’t work (at two-thirds of your previous pay)
• Medical treatment to address your work injuries
• Vocational rehabilitation to transition back to work

The workers’ compensation lawyers at Workers’ Compensation, LLC, can make sure you actually get all the disability benefits you’re entitled to receive.

The federal government has extended longshore and harbor injured worker protections to groups of workers outside of ports and shipping.

You may be able to get longshore benefits if any of these describe your job:

• You work on a U.S. military base (Defense Base Act).
• You work in an armed forces support role (Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act).
• You work offshore, such as on an oil rig (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act).

In addition, if you are a seaman assigned to work on a vessel while it’s under way, you have another avenue for injury compensation:

• Benefits for crew members of vessels under the Jones Act.

The Jones Act is a separate law that allows you to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer for unsafe conditions that led to your injury.

An experienced workers’ comp lawyer, such as the attorneys at Workers’ Compensation, LLC, can help you claim financial support under these laws.