616A.010 - Legislative declarations: Statutory construction; repudiation of common law; basis of provisions; balanced interpretation required.

616A.010  Legislative declarations: Statutory construction; repudiation of common law; basis of provisions; balanced interpretation required.  The Legislature hereby determines and declares that:

      1.  The provisions of chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of NRS must be interpreted and construed to ensure the quick and efficient payment of compensation to employees who are injured or disabled at a reasonable cost to the employers who are subject to the provisions of those chapters;

      2.  A claim for compensation filed pursuant to the provisions of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, or chapter 617 of NRS must be decided on its merit and not according to the principle of common law that requires statutes governing workers’ compensation to be liberally construed because they are remedial in nature;

      3.  The provisions of chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of NRS are based on a renunciation of the rights and defenses of employers and employees recognized at common law; and

      4.  For the accomplishment of these purposes, the provisions of chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of NRS must not be interpreted or construed broadly or liberally in favor of an employee who is injured or disabled or the dependents of the employee, or in such a manner as to favor the rights and interests of an employer over the rights and interests of an employee who is injured or disabled or his or her dependents.

      (Added to NRS by 1993, 660)—(Substituted in revision for NRS 616.012)