'U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

EMPLOYMENT 8-:rANDARDS ADMINl&TRA'l'ION 

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs 

January 2, 1975 No. 20 

NOTICE TO INSURANCE CARRIERS, SELF-INSURED 

UNDER THE LONGSHOREMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 

OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS 

Washington. D.C 20221 

EMPLOYERS 

AS EXTENDED, AND 

Subject: Penalties under Sections 14(g) and 30(e), 

Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation 

Act 

This notice is issued to inform interested parties of the 

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs' (OWCP) policy with 

regard to assessing penalties against employers or insurance 

carriers as provided by Sections 14(g) and 30(e) of the 

Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, and its 

various extensions. 

The failure of many employers to submit reports of injuries 

or deaths timely, or of insurance carriers or self-insured 

employers to submit other reports as required by the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its 

extensions, including the District of Columbia Compensation 

Act, is detrimental to the interests of injured workers and 

their survivors and interferes with the effective administration of this law by the OWCP. We are therefore reminding 

you of the requirements of the law with respect to the timely 

filing of certain reports. 

Section 30(a) of the Longshore Act requires an employer to 

send to the Secretary of Labor (or designee) a report of any 

injury or death covered by the law, or one of its extensions, 

within ten days from the date of the injury or death or from 

the date the employer has knowledge of a disease or infection 

relating to such injury. The requirement of this section is 

considered satisfied by sending the report to the Deputy 

Commissioner in the compensation district in which the injury 

or death occurred. Section 30(e) provides a civil penalty 

of up to $500 against an employer whc fails or refuses to 

send a report of injury or death in the prescribed manner, 

or who fails or refuses to send additional reports in respect 

of such injury and of the condition of an injured employee, 

as required by the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary's 

designee. 

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To comply with the foregoing requirement, a report of injury 

(Form BEC-202 or LS-202a) must be sent by mailing it in a 

stamped envelope or delivering it by messenger to the office 

of the Deputy Commissioner in the compensation district in 

which the injury or death occurred. It is not required that 

the report actually be received by the Deputy Commissioner 

within ten days, provided the postmark indicates it was mailed 

within that period. Other reports indicated in the section, 

e.g., medical reports, whenever requested, must be submitted 

in a timely ~anner or whenever requested by the Deputy 

Commissioner. 

Failure or refusal of an employer or insurance carrier in 

regard to the timely submission of the reports described 

in section 30 may be grounds for recommending a civil penalty 

under section 30(e), and the Deputy Commissioners have been 

advised by the OWCP's National Office to institute inquiries 

and, where indicated, to make recommendations that penalties 

be assessed under this section. Before a penalty is assessed, 

however, the employer or insurance carrier will be advised 

of the basis for a penalty and afforded an opportunity to 

explain the failure to comply with the provision of the Act. 

If the Deputy Commissioner finds that in his or her judgment 

a penalty should be assessed, the matter will be referred to 

the OWCP's National Office for appropriate action on the 

recommendation. 

Section 14(g) provides that an employer/carrier shall, within 

sixteen days after final payment of compensation has been made, 

send to the Deputy Commissioner a notice, in accordance with 

a form prescribed by the Secretary (Form BEC-208), stating 

that such final payment has been made, the total amount of 

compensation paid, and other pertinent information described 

in the section. If the employer/carrier fails to notify 

the Deputy Commissioner within the prescribed time, the 

Secretary is authorized to assess against the delinquent 

employer/carrier a civil penalty in the amount of $100. 

Deputy Commissioners have been advised to make appropriate 

inquiries with respect to the failure to submit such reports 

in a timely manner, and in appropriate situations, to recommend 

the assessment of a penalty as provided by this section. 

It has been determined that a "final payment of compensation", 

for the purpose of consideration under section 14(g) shall be 

one of the following: the last payment made in accordance 

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with a compensation order awarding disability or death benefits, 

issued by either a Deputy Commissioner or Administrative Law 

Judge; the payment of an agreed settlement approved by a 

Deputy Commissioner under section 8(i) (A) or by the Secretary 

under section 8(i) (B); a lump sum payment of future compensation payments commuted under section 14(j); the last payment 

to be made pursuant to an agreement reached by the parties 

through informal proceedings approved in writing by an OWCP 

adjudicator or recommended in writing by an adjudicator and 

accepted by the parties; or a final payment to an alien or 

aliens under section 9(g) of the Longshore Act or section 2(b) 

of the Defense Base Act. 

The procedure for considering the application of•the penalty 

provision of section 14(g) is similar to that followed under 

section 30(e). 

The cooperation of employers and insurance carriers in timely 

submitting the reports described in this notice will be of 

great benefit to injured workers and their survivors and will 

assist the OWCP in carrying out its responsibilities under 

the amended Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation 

~d-~~-

HERBERT A. DOYLE, JR. 

Director, Office of Workers' 

Compensation Programs 

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