FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 52: Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses › Subpart 52.2
FAR 52.228-4 Workers' Compensation and War-Hazard Insurance Overseas.
The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.
In plain English
This clause applies when the Secretary of Labor has waived the Defense Base Act or War Hazards Compensation Act for certain employees working overseas. It requires the contractor to provide workers' compensation insurance or equivalent as required by the employees' home country laws, and to provide war-hazard benefits similar to those under the War Hazards Compensation Act. The contractor must also include similar requirements in applicable subcontracts.
Applies to: Contractors employing persons overseas who would otherwise be covered by the Defense Base Act or War Hazards Compensation Act but for a waiver by the Secretary of Labor.
What it requires
- Provide workers' compensation insurance or equivalent as required by the employees' home country laws before starting work, and maintain it until performance is complete.
- Insert a similar clause in all subcontracts where the Defense Base Act would apply but for the waiver.
- Afford war-hazard protection similar to the War Hazards Compensation Act, subject to reimbursement, with benefits conforming to any controlling law or international agreement.
- Insert a similar clause in all subcontracts where the War Hazards Compensation Act would apply but for the waiver, unless the contractor assumes direct liability.
Key terms: Defense Base Act · War Hazards Compensation Act · waiver · workers' compensation insurance · war-hazard benefits
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
As prescribed in 28.309(b), insert the following clause:
Workers' Compensation and War-Hazard Insurance Overseas (APR 1984)
(a) This paragraph applies if the Contractor employs any person who, but for a waiver granted by the Secretary of Labor, would be subject to workers' compensation insurance under the Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.). On behalf of employees for whom the applicability of the Defense Base Act has been waived, the Contractor shall (1) provide, before commencing performance under this contract, at least that workers' compensation insurance or the equivalent as the laws of the country of which these employees are nationals may require and (2) continue to maintain it until performance is completed. The Contractor shall insert, in all subcontracts under this contract to which the Defense Base Act would apply but for the waiver, a clause similar to this paragraph (a) (including this sentence) imposing upon those subcontractors this requirement to provide such workers' compensation insurance coverage.
(b) This paragraph applies if the Contractor or any subcontractor under this contract employs any person who, but for a waiver granted by the Secretary of Labor, would be subject to the War Hazards Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). On behalf of employees for whom the applicability of the Defense Base Act (and hence that of the War Hazards Compensation Act) has been waived, the Contractor shall, subject to reimbursement as provided elsewhere in this contract, afford the same protection as that provided in the War Hazards Compensation Act, except that the level of benefits shall conform to any law or international agreement controlling the benefits to which the employees may be entitled. In all other respects, the standards of the War Hazards Compensation Act shall apply; e.g., the definition of war-hazard risks (injury, death, capture, or detention as the result of a war hazard as defined in the Act), proof of loss, and exclusion of benefits otherwise covered by workers' compensation insurance or the equivalent. Unless the Contractor elects to assume directly the liability to subcontractor employees created by this clause, the Contractor shall insert, in all subcontracts under this contract to which the War Hazards Compensation Act would apply but for the waiver, a clause similar to this paragraph (b) (including this sentence) imposing upon those subcontractors this requirement to provide war-hazard benefits.
(End of clause)
Sections it refers to
- 28.309 Contract clauses for workers' compensation insurance.
← 52.228-3 Workers' Compensation Insurance (Defense Base Act). · 52.228-5 Insurance—Work on a Government Installation. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 52
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Parts 8, 12, 13, 15, 38, 44, and 51 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 16, 17, and 35 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 9, 27, and 47 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 14, 28, 36, and 52 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 3 and 49 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 5, 24, and 29 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 6, 7, 10, 18, 26, 37, and 41 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 39, 40, and 53 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.