Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (2026)
Liability for payment of compensation
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) Compensation shall be payable for disability or death of an employee from injury or occupational disease arising out of and in the course of employment, without regard to fault as to the cause of the injury or occupational disease. An occupational disease shall be deemed to arise out of and in the course of employment when there is evidence that there is a direct causal connection between the work performed and the occupational disease. In all claims in which no benefits, including disability, death and medical benefits, have been paid, the claimant shall file medical records in support of his claim for benefits when filing a petition to controvert. If the claimant is unable to file the medical records in support of his claim for benefits at the time of filing the petition to controvert because of a limitation of time established by Section 71-3-35 or Section 71-3-53, the claimant shall file medical records in support of his claim within sixty (60) days after filing the petition to controvert.
- (2) Where a preexisting physical handicap, disease, or lesion is shown by medical findings to be a material contributing factor in the results following injury, the compensation which, but for this subsection, would be payable shall be reduced by that proportion which such preexisting physical handicap, disease, or lesion contributed to the production of the results following the injury. The preexisting condition does not have to be occupationally disabling for this apportionment to apply.
- (3) The following provisions shall apply to subsections (1) and (2) of this section:
- (a) Apportionment shall not be applied until the claimant has reached maximum medical recovery.
- (b) The employer or carrier does not have the power to determine the date of maximum medical recovery or percentage of apportionment. This must be done by the attorney-referee, subject to review by the commission as the ultimate finder of fact.
- (c) After the date the claimant reaches maximum medical recovery, weekly compensation benefits and maximum recovery shall be reduced by that proportion which the preexisting physical handicap, disease, or lesion contributes to the results following injury.
- (d) If maximum medical recovery has occurred before the hearing and order of the attorney-referee, credit for excess payments shall be allowed in future payments. Such allowances and method of accomplishment of the same shall be determined by the attorney-referee, subject to review by the commission. However, no actual repayment of such excess shall be made to the employer or carrier.
- (4) No compensation shall be payable if the use of drugs illegally, or the use of a valid prescription medication(s) taken contrary to the prescriber's instructions and/or contrary to label warnings, or the use of medical cannabis in accordance with the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act and rules and regulations adopted thereunder, or intoxication due to the use of alcohol of the employee was the proximate cause of the injury, or if it was the willful intention of the employee to injure or kill himself or another.
- (5) Every employer to whom this chapter applies shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable under its provisions.
- (6) 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.
Codes, 1942, § 6998-04; Laws, 1948, ch. 354, § 4; Laws, 1950, ch. 412, § 3; Laws, 1958, ch. 454, § 1; Laws, 1960, ch. 277; Laws, 1968, ch. 559, § 3; reenacted without change, Laws, 1982, ch. 473, § 4; reenacted without change, Laws, 1990, ch. 405, § 4; Laws, 2012, ch. 522, § 2, eff. 7/1/2012.
Amended by Laws, 2022, ch. 303, SB 2095,§ 67, eff. 2/2/2022.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 111
cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1974–2025 · leading case: Richmond v. Benchmark Const. Corp., 692 So. 2d 60 (Miss. 1997).
Richmond v. Benchmark Const. Corp., 692 So. 2d 60 (Miss. 1997). “Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972). In Doubleday v.”
Doubleday v. Boyd Const. Co., 418 So. 2d 823 (Miss. 1982). “In dismissing appellant's suit against Boyd, the trial court relied on Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972) and Mosley v.”
South Cent. Bell Tel. Co. v. Aden, 474 So. 2d 584 (Miss. 1985). “The Commission thereafter ruled, however, that claimant experienced a preexisting physical handicap, disease or lesion which was a contributing factor to her disability, Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972), and proceeded to hold that her permanent total disability was fifty percent…”
Quindon D. Thomas v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 212 So. 3d 58 (Miss. 2017). “1985); see Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (6) (Rev. 2011).”
Delta CMI v. Speck, 586 So. 2d 768 (Miss. 1991). “Delta CMI has misread the intent of Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 , the apportionment statute, as well as decisions of this Court interpreting that statutory proviso.”
Magee v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, 551 So. 2d 182 (Miss. 1989). “Nothing in Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972) imposed upon Transco the duty to secure or pay compensation to Singley's employees.”
Vance v. Twin River Homes, Inc., 641 So. 2d 1176 (Miss. 1994). “Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1989). In the situation of an employer that is also a general contractor, as is the case with Twin River, the Act also imposes liability upon the general (prime) contractor for payment of compensation benefits to the employees of a subcontractor…”
Nash v. Damson Oil Corp., 480 So. 2d 1095 (Miss. 1985). “If Damson Oil Corporation is a "contractor" who is an "employer" within the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 71-3-7 and -9 (1972), Damson wins.”
Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. Cook, 832 So. 2d 474 (Miss. 2002). “Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-7(b). Cook admits in his brief that "while the language of § 71-3-7(b) may not be strictly applicable to this case, it is not an incorrect statement of Mississippi's workers' compensation law.”
Lámar v. Thomas Fowler Trucking, Inc., 956 So. 2d 878 (Miss. 2007). “Miss.Code Ann. §§ 71-3-7, 71-3-9 (Rev.2000).”
Delta Drilling Co. v. Cannette, 489 So. 2d 1378 (Miss. 1986). “Cited in support is Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972) which states, inter alia: Where a preexisting physical handicap, disease, or lesion is shown by medical findings to be a material contributing factor in the results following injury, the compensation which, but for this…”
Chapman, Dependents of v. Hanson Scale Co., 495 So. 2d 1357 (Miss. 1986). “The work connection test arises from Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7 (1972). The worker's employment, however, need not have been the sole source of the injury.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7(1) — 1 case
Smith v. Tippah Elec. Power Ass'n, 138 So. 3d 900 (Miss. 2014).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7(2) — 1 case
Leflore Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors v. Golden, 169 So. 3d 882 (Miss. Ct. App. 2014).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7(4) — 2 cases
Smith v. Tippah Elec. Power Ass'n, 138 So. 3d 934 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013).
Smith v. Tippah Elec. Power Ass'n, 138 So. 3d 900 (Miss. 2014).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7(b) — 1 case
Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. Cook, 832 So. 2d 474 (Miss. 2002). “Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-7(b). Cook admits in his brief that "while the language of § 71-3-7(b) may not be strictly applicable to this case, it is not an incorrect statement of Mississippi's workers' compensation law.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-7(d) — 1 case
Lámar v. Thomas Fowler Trucking, Inc., 956 So. 2d 878 (Miss. 2007). “Miss.Code Ann. §§ 71-3-7, 71-3-9 (Rev.2000).”
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