U.S. Department of Labor Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers'
Compensation
Washington, D.C. 20210

June 12, 2015
INDUSTRY NOTICE No. 152

TO: INSURANCE CARRIERS, SELF-INSURED EMPLOYERS, LONGSHORE EMPLOYERS,
LONGSHORE CLAIMANTS, AND OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS

SUBJECT: Waiver of Service by Registered or Certified Mail

To speed delivery of benefits to injured workers covered by the Longshore and Harbor
Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), and its extensions, the Office of Workers’
Compensation Programs (OWCP), Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation
(DLHWC), now offers an alternative electronic option for service of compensation orders.
Any party to a claim or the party’s representative may now choose to waive service by
certified mail and instead receive service via email.

BACKGROUND: Section 919(e) of the LHWCA provides that parties have a right to service
of compensation orders by registered or certified mail. By practice, the Department has
elected to use certified mail and has extended this manner of service to the parties’
representatives. See 20 C.F.R. 702.349(a). Effective June 10, 2015, a new implementing
regulation found at 20 C.F.R. 702.349(b) allows parties and their representatives to waive
certified mail service and consent to electronic service instead.

Revised 20 C.F.R. 702.349(b) provides:

All parties and their representatives are entitled to be served with compensation
orders via registered or certified mail. Parties and their representatives may waive
this right and elect to be served with compensation orders electronically by filing the
appropriate waiver form with the district director responsible for administering the
claim. To waive service by registered or certified mail, employers, insurance
carriers, and their representatives must file form LS-801 (Waiver of Service by
Registered or Certified Mail for Employers and/or Insurance Carriers), and claimants
and their representatives must file form LS-802 (Waiver of Service by Registered or
Certified Mail for Claimants and/or Authorized Representatives). A signature on a
waiver form represents a knowing and voluntary waiver of that party's or
representative's right to receive compensation orders via registered or certified mail.

(1) Waiving parties and representatives must provide a valid electronic address on
the waiver form.

(2) Parties and representatives must submit a separate waiver form for each case in
which they intend to waive the right to certified or registered mail service.

(3) A representative may not sign a waiver form on a party's behalf.

(4) All compensation orders issued in a claim after receipt of the waiver form will be
sent to the electronic address provided on the waiver form. Any changes to the


address must be made by submitting another waiver form. Individuals may revoke
their service waiver at any time by submitting a new waiver form that specifies that
the service waiver is being revoked.

(5) If it appears that service in the manner selected by the individual has not been
effective, the district director will serve the individual by certified mail.

The only method of electronic service OWCP is providing at this time is transmission via
email. Thus, under section 702.349(b), any party to a claim or their representative may
now sign up for email service of compensation orders by waiving certified mail service. This
includes claimants, employers, insurance carriers, self-insured employers, and attorneys (or
lay representatives) for both claimants and employer/carriers. Parties and
representatives who do not waive certified mail service in accordance with the
procedures below will receive compensation orders via certified mail.

PROCEDURES FOR WAIVING CERTIFIED MAIL SERVICE:

1. If a party wishes to request service via email, the appropriate “Waiver of Service by
Registered or Certified Mail” form must be completed and submitted to OWCP for inclusion
in the case file. There are two different waiver forms, and they are both available on the

DLHWC website (http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dihwc/Isforms.htm).

The correct form, based on the party submitting the waiver, must be used or the waiver will
be deemed invalid. No other request - written or verbal - will be honored.

e LS-801 (Waiver of Service by Registered or Certified Mail for Employers and/or
Insurance Carriers) is to be used by Employers, Insurance Carriers, and their
representatives.

* LS-802 (Waiver of Service by Registered or Certified Mail for Claimants and
Authorized Representatives) is to be used by claimants and their representatives.

2. The waiver form requires the author to identify his/her role in the claims process; name,
firm or business name (if applicable); and the email address(es) to which compensation
orders should be sent. No more than two (2) email addresses can be listed on the form.

A representative, including an attorney, may not sign a waiver form on a party's behalf.

3. All fields on the form must be completed. It must be signed, dated and submitted to
OwcpP.

a. DLHWC'’s Secure Electronic Access Portal (SEAPortal) may be used to upload the waiver
form into the case file. (See Industry Notice No. 148, issued October 31, 2014.) The
SEAPortal can be accessed at the following web address: https://seaportal.dol-
esa.gov/. The document category option to be used during the upload process is
“Waiver of Service by Certified Mail (LS-801/802).”

b. Alternatively, the form may be mailed to the DLHWC Central Mail Receipt site at the
following address: U.S. Department of Labor, OWCP/DLHWC, 400 West Bay Street,
Suite 63A, Box 28, Jacksonville, FL 32202.


4. If the individual who signs the waiver form wishes to revoke the waiver or change the
email address(es) for delivery, he/she must submit a new waiver form and check the
appropriate box at the top of the form. No other request - written or verbal - will be
honored.

5. When a compensation order is served via email, the subject line of the email will be
“Compensation Order,” with the case number only, and the order will be attached as an
Adobe document that is password protected. The password will be the injured worker's
date of birth in the following format: MM/DD/YYYY. The actual date of birth will not be
provided since any party to the claim (or their representative) should have that information.

6) If the order is sent via email and OWCP receives a notice that it is undeliverable or
otherwise appears not to have been transmitted, OWCP will then serve the order via
certified mail to that recipient. (An out-of-office reply is not considered to be an
“undeliverable” email.) If the order is sent via certified mail in this instance, written notice
will be sent to that individual party or representative indicating that the attempt to serve
the compensation order via email was unsuccessful. If the individual wishes to receive
additional orders via email, he/she must file a new waiver form.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

Signature on the waiver serves as a knowing and voluntary waiver of the right to receive
the compensation order(s) by registered or certified mail. If any party or representative
chooses to receive service via email, a hard copy of the order will not be sent via certified
or registered mail to that party or representative. All other parties and representatives to
the claim will receive service in the usual and customary manner (unless they have also
waived their right to certified mail service). In light of the availability of email service, the
DLHWC will no longer send courtesy copies of compensation orders to certain parties and
representatives by fax as it has occasionally done in the past.

Antonio\s. Rios
Director, Division of
Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation