33 U.S.C. § 904
Section 904 · Liability for compensation
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 208 court decisions — leading case Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. v. Pfeifer (1983)
Most recently applied in Santee v. Oceaneering Intl (August 2024)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 33 U.S.C. § 905 · 33 U.S.C. § 901 · 33 U.S.C. § 902
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Every employer shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable under sections 907, 908, and 909 of this title. In the case of an employer who is a subcontractor, only if such subcontractor fails to secure the payment of compensation shall the contractor be liable for and be required to secure the payment of compensation. A subcontractor shall not be deemed to have failed to secure the payment of compensation if the contractor has provided insurance for such compensation for the benefit of the subcontractor.
(b) Compensation shall be payable irrespective of fault as a cause for the injury.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–426 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “Every employer shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable under sections 907, 908, and 909 of this title. In the case of an employer who is a subcontractor, the contractor shall be liable for and shall secure the payment of such compensation to employees of the subcontractor unless the subcontractor has secured such payment.”
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–426 effective Sept. 28, 1984, and applicable both with respect to claims filed after Sept. 28, 1984, and to claims pending on that date, see section 28(a) of Pub. L. 98–426, set out as a note under section 901 of this title.
Cross References
Security for compensation, see section 932 of this title.