According to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), an employee who may be covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act should take certain actions if he is injured.
Employer Retaliation
In the sequential evaluation of disability by the Social Security Administration (SSA), a major step is whether the individual has a condition that meets the twelve-month duration requirement and that is represented on the Social Security Administration's Listing of Impairments (LOI) or equal to a listed impairment. The LOI is divided into two parts. One part applies to individuals over age eighteen and one part is applicable to individuals under eighteen.
In determining an individual's entitlement to social security disability benefits, his ability to perform past relevant work will be examined. As part of the evaluation process, the individual's residual functional capacity (RFC) is determined. If the RFC assessment shows that the individual can either perform the actual duties of his past jobs or that he can perform the duties of his past occupations as generally required by employers throughout the United States, he will not be considered disabled.
In order to avoid the effects of the workers' compensation system, some employers will deliberately categorize a person as an individual contractor instead of an employee. Some individuals may even categorize themselves as individual contractors, preferring to reject the compensation system. Whether this categorization is successful, however, turns not just on the name given to the employment relationship. Rather, each relationship is examined on its own facts and will be decided based on the conduct exhibited between the parties as well as the work contract entered into between them.
