Here is the short answer. The Defense Base Act (DBA) and workers' compensation, or workers' comp, are two different systems. Where you were working is what decides which one covers you. Were you hurt outside the country on a job for the United States government? Then the Defense Base Act covers you. It is a federal law. Were you hurt on a job inside the country? Then your state's workers' comp covers you. You do not get to pick, and you cannot file both against the same employer for the same injury.
I am Mark Hirsch. I handle Defense Base Act claims for civilians hurt on jobs overseas, and I handle workers' comp claims here in Florida. Most people who call me were told the wrong thing by someone at work. By the end you will know which system covers you, how much each one pays a week, who picks your doctor, how long you have to file, and why getting hurt off the clock overseas can still count.
Key takeaways
- The Defense Base Act is a federal law. It covers civilians working outside the country for the United States government.
- If it covers you, you cannot file a state workers' comp claim against that employer.
- Both systems pay two thirds of your pay while you are out of work. The federal limit is higher.
- In a federal claim you pick your own doctor. In Florida the insurance company picks.
- You get one year to file a federal claim. In Florida you get two years.
- Getting hurt off the clock overseas can still count. That is not true in any state system.
- In a federal claim the insurance company can be told to pay your lawyer. In Florida the fee comes out of your money.
Where You Worked Decides Which System Covers You
The Defense Base Act is a federal law from 1941. It has no benefit rules of its own. It borrows them from another law written for dock workers, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA). Then it applies those rules to civilians working overseas for the United States. Section 1651 of Title 42 lists who is covered. Work on an American military base overseas counts. So does building work and other work paid for by the government outside the country. The job title does not matter. The person who runs a store on a base is covered, and so is the truck driver.
You do not get to choose between the two systems. Section 1651(c) says this federal law takes the place of any state workers' comp claim against your employer. If you were hurt overseas on a covered job, you have a federal claim. The state claim your coworker keeps telling you to file is not an option.
Your employer has to buy the coverage before you leave. Contract rule 52.228-3 makes the company buy Defense Base Act insurance. Very large companies can get approval to pay claims themselves instead. If your employer never bought it, section 905(a) of Title 33 lets you sue the company for your injuries.
The Two Systems, Side by Side
The state column uses Florida, because Florida is where we handle state claims. Every state makes its own rules, so those numbers are different where you live. The federal column is the same for everyone.
| Question | Defense Base Act | Florida workers' comp |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it? | The United States Department of Labor | The state of Florida |
| How much is the weekly check? | Two thirds of your pay | Two thirds of your pay |
| How much can that check be? | Up to $2,082.70 a week | Up to $1,358 a week |
| Who picks your doctor? | You do | The insurance company |
| How long to tell your boss? | 30 days | 30 days |
| How long to file the claim? | 1 year | 2 years |
| Who settles a fight over benefits? | A federal judge, then a federal review board | A state workers' comp judge |
| Who pays your lawyer? | The insurance company can be told to | You do, out of what you win |
5 Differences That Change What You Get
Some of those rows matter more than others. These five decide how a claim goes.
You can get more money each week. Both systems pay two thirds of what you were making. Both stop at a limit. The federal limit is 200 percent of an average wage for the whole country, under section 906(b). Right now that is $2,082.70 a week, per the United States Department of Labor. That number covers October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, and it changes every October 1. Florida stops at the state's average wage, which is $1,358 a week for injuries on or after January 1, 2026, per the Florida Department of Financial Services. Contractor pay is often high enough to reach both limits. If yours is, you would get about $725 more a week in the federal system.
You pick your own doctor. Section 907(b) gives you "the right to choose an attending physician," which means the doctor who treats you. It has to be a doctor the Department of Labor allows. Florida is the opposite. The insurance company picks and approves your doctor under section 440.13. You can ask in writing for one switch. This matters because your doctor writes the records, and those records say how hurt you are.
You have less time to file. Both systems give you 30 days to tell your boss, under section 912 and Florida section 440.185. Then they split. You get one year to file a federal claim, under section 913. Florida gives you two years, under section 440.19. Some problems build up slowly, like hearing loss, lung damage, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For those, the federal clock gives you two years from the day you learned the work caused it.
Your first check has a due date. In a federal claim, the first payment is due 14 days after your employer learns you were hurt. That is section 914. No judge has to order it first. If it is 14 days late, the insurance company owes an extra 10 percent. Write down the day you told your employer, because that day starts the count.
The insurance company can pay your lawyer. In Florida, your lawyer is paid a share of what they win for you, and a judge has to approve it. That is section 440.34. A federal claim can work the other way. Under section 928, if the insurance company turns you down within 30 days and you win with a lawyer's help, it can be told to pay that lawyer. The law says your benefits are not cut to cover it. We explain that in who pays attorney fees in a Defense Base Act claim.
Getting Hurt Off the Clock Can Still Count
This is the part people get told wrong most often. State workers' comp asks a narrow question: were you hurt doing your job? Federal law asks a wider one for overseas work. It asks whether your job put you in a risky place to begin with. Lawyers call that the zone of special danger.
The Supreme Court set that rule in O'Leary v. Brown-Pacific-Maxon, 340 U.S. 504 (1951). A man working for a contractor on Guam drowned while trying to save two men. The Court said the question is whether the job created the danger the injury came out of.
Courts still use that rule. In 2015, a federal appeals court in Boston kept death benefits in place for a worker sent overseas who was killed in a taxi on his way to buy food. That case is Battelle Memorial Institute v. DiCecca. Think about what your job put around you. You live where the contract sent you, you eat what you can find, and you ride in whatever taxi shows up. None of that is true at home. If an insurance adjuster told you your injury does not count because you were off shift, that answer may be wrong.
Hurt in the United States Before You Fly Out?
This is the call I get most. Training, medical checks, and gear pickup usually happen inside the United States, sometimes weeks before your flight. Get hurt there and it is usually a state workers' comp claim. The Defense Base Act follows where the work happened, not the contract you signed for later.
It goes the other way too. Your company being based in one state does not move an overseas injury into that state's system. Neither does the address on your paycheck. If you are not sure which side you are on, read when workers' comp does not cover an injury in Florida for the state side, and how Defense Base Act and Longshore benefits overlap for the federal side.
See What the Weekly Numbers Look Like
This calculator is a starting point, not a promise. Put in your wage numbers and it shows the range a Defense Base Act claim works within. What you really get depends on your medical records, your pay records, and the facts of your case, so treat it as something to talk over with an attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is the Defense Base Act the same thing as workers' compensation?
A: It is workers' comp, but the federal kind. It uses the benefit rules of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and applies them to civilians working outside the country on government jobs. Your state's system is separate, with its own limits, doctors, and deadlines.
Q: Can I file a state workers' compensation claim and a Defense Base Act claim for the same injury?
A: Not against the same employer. Section 1651(c) says the federal claim takes the place of a state claim against that company. If some other company caused your injury, that is a separate case and a different kind of claim.
Q: Does the Defense Base Act cover injuries that happen off duty?
A: It can. Under the zone of special danger rule from O'Leary v. Brown-Pacific-Maxon, an injury can count when it comes from the risks of living and working in the place your job sent you, even if you were not on shift. Whether yours counts depends on the facts.
Q: How long do I have to file a Defense Base Act claim?
A: One year from the day you were hurt. You also have to tell your employer and the Department of Labor within 30 days. If the problem built up slowly, and you could not have known it was work related, you get more time.
Q: Who pays for the doctor in a Defense Base Act claim?
A: Your employer or its insurance company pays for approved care, and you pick the doctor. Florida is the opposite. There the insurance company picks the doctor, and you can ask in writing for one switch.
Talk to Someone Who Handles Both Kinds of Claim
Were you hurt on a job overseas, or on a job here in Florida? Find out which system you are in first, because the clock is already running. Our team at Templer & Hirsch, Injury Lawyers handles Defense Base Act and Longshore claims all over the country, and workers' comp claims here at home. Call 305-937-2700 or request a free case evaluation.
Written by Attorney Mark Hirsch
This is general information, not legal advice; consult an attorney about your situation.