An employer who willfully fails to provide required workers’ compensation security can be fined or jailed, and certain good-faith people who report violations are protected from civil liability.
§1172. Criminal penalties A. Any employer who willfully fails to provide security for compensation required by R.S. 23:1168 shall be subject to a fine of up to two hundred fifty dollars per day that the employer willfully failed to provide security for compensation or imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. All fines collected shall be deposited in the Office of Workers' Compensation Administrative Fund established in R.S. 23:1291.1(E). B. Evidence of two prior penalties assessed by Louisiana Works pursuant to R.S. 23:1170 and 1171 in any given three-year period shall constitute a prima facie case of a willful violation. C.(1) No person acting gratuitously and without malice, fraudulent intent, or bad faith, shall be subject to civil liability for libel, slander, or any other relevant tort, and no civil cause of action of any nature shall exist against such person or entity by virtue of the filing of reports or furnishing of other information, either orally or in writing, relative to a violation by any person of the provisions of R.S. 23:1168. (2) The grant of immunity provided by this Subsection shall not abrogate or modify in any way any statutory or other privilege or immunity otherwise enjoyed by such person or entity. Acts 1988, No. 938, §2, eff. July 1, 1989; Acts 1989, No. 512, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1992, No. 447, §1, eff. June 20, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 368, §1, eff. June 16, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 1129, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2010, No. 288, §1; Acts 2018, No. 612, §7, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2018, 2nd E.S., No. 12, §1, eff. June 12, 2018; Acts 2019, No. 404, §1, eff. July 1, 2020. NOTE: See Acts 2018, No. 612 and Acts 2019, No. 404 providing for the effects of the conversion of certain dedicated funds to special statutorily dedicated fund accounts.