§918 Collection of defaulted payments; special fund

Summary

If an employer does not pay a compensation award within 30 days after it is due, the person owed can, within one year of that missed payment, ask the deputy commissioner who made the award for a supplementary order that says how much is unpaid. After an investigation, notice, and a hearing under section 919, the deputy commissioner will issue that supplementary order and file it like the original award. If the missed payment was just one installment, the deputy commissioner may treat the whole award as unpaid. The person owed can file a certified copy of the supplementary order with the federal court clerk where the employer’s main office is, where the employer has an office, or where the injury happened (use the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia if located in D.C.). The court must enter judgment for the amount the deputy declared if the order is lawful. That judgment can be reviewed like other civil damage cases, enforced by a writ of execution used in common-law actions, and later changed to match any new compensation order if a certified copy of that order is shown to the court. No fee is required to file the supplementary order or to get the judgment, and the applicant won’t have to pay costs on review unless the court orders otherwise. If the judgment can’t be paid because the employer is insolvent or for other reasons, the Secretary of Labor may, if the Secretary decides it is advisable and after checking current commitments from the special fund in section 944, pay the award from that fund and provide required medical care under section 907 when the employer failed to do so because of insolvency. The employer must repay amounts paid from the fund. To collect repayment, the Secretary, for the benefit of the fund, gets the same rights the person received the payment had against the employer and may sue or settle claims under this section or under section 921(c).