33 U.S.C. § 938: Penalties

Summary

Employers who must have workers’ compensation but fail to get it can be charged with a misdemeanor. They can be fined up to $10,000, go to jail for up to one year, or both. If the employer is a corporation, the president, secretary, and treasurer can also be fined or jailed and are personally responsible, along with the company, for any benefits owed to an injured worker. If an employer hides, sells, or moves property after a worker is hurt to avoid paying benefits, the same fine and jail penalties apply and the corporate officers can be punished too. These penalties do not remove any other legal obligations the employer has under this chapter.

Title 33, §938

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(a)Failure to secure payment of compensation

Any employer required to secure the payment of compensation under this chapter who fails to secure such compensation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and in any case where such employer is a corporation, the president, secretary, and treasurer thereof shall be also severally liable to such fine or imprisonment as herein provided for the failure of such corporation to secure the payment of compensation; and such president, secretary, and treasurer shall be severally personally liable, jointly with such corporation, for any compensation or other benefit which may accrue under the said chapter in respect to any injury which may occur to any employee of such corporation while it shall so fail to secure the payment of compensation as required by section 932 of this title.

(b)Avoiding payment of compensation

Any employer who knowingly transfers, sells, encumbers, assigns, or in any manner disposes of, conceals, secretes, or destroys any property belonging to such employer, after one of his employees has been injured within the purview of this chapter, and with intent to avoid the payment of compensation under this chapter to such employee or his dependents, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and in any case where such employer is a corporation, the president, secretary, and treasurer thereof shall be also severally liable to such penalty of imprisonment as well as jointly liable with such corporation for such fine.

(c)Effect on other liability of employer

This section shall not affect any other liability of the employer under this chapter.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1984—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 98–426 substituted “$10,000” for “$1,000” wherever appearing. 1938—Act June 25, 1938, amended section generally, designating first sentence as subsec. (a) and inserting provisions respecting liability of corporate officers, adding subsec. (b), and designating second sentence as subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–426 effective Sept. 28, 1984, see section 28(e)(1) of Pub. L. 98–426, set out as a note under section 901 of this title.

§938 Penalties