Longshore & Harbor Workers (USL&H)

Ordinary state workers' compensation statutes do not reach many maritime workers. The federal U.S. Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (USL&H or LHWCA) fills that gap, requiring employers to provide no-fault workers' comp benefits to employees engaged in maritime employment — loading and unloading vessels, ship building, ship breaking, and harbor construction — who are injured on the navigable waters of the United States or on adjoining docks, piers, terminals, and marine railways. USL&H benefits are generally richer than state comp, with a higher federal benefit schedule, so exposure to it must be insured deliberately.

Coverage is added by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Coverage Endorsement to a standard workers' comp and employers liability policy. Any business that works near the water — marinas, boatyards, marine contractors, stevedores, dock builders, even landscapers or divers working on a pier — can pick up USL&H exposure without realizing it, and a claim denied under state comp because the injury occurred over navigable water will then land under the federal act. Because the two systems overlap at the water's edge (the so-called "twilight zone"), prudent employers with any waterfront work buy both state comp and USL&H so no claim slips between them.

A practical nuance for buyers: USL&H sits between land-based comp and true seaman coverage. It does not cover the master or crew of a vessel — those workers are seamen who fall under the Jones Act instead — and it does not apply to purely land-based clerical staff. Underwriters rate USL&H payroll separately and at a higher loss cost, so accurate classification of who does maritime work versus dry-land work directly drives premium. Employers should also confirm the endorsement lists the correct states and that any ocean marine exposures are coordinated so a single injury is not caught between overlapping policies.