Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 287
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.800 (2026)

Law to be strictly construed

✓ current as of May 2026
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  287.800.  Law to be strictly construed. — 1.  Administrative law judges, associate administrative law judges, legal advisors, the labor and industrial relations commission, the division of workers' compensation, and any reviewing courts shall construe the provisions of this chapter strictly.

  2.  Administrative law judges, associate administrative law judges, legal advisors, the labor and industrial relations commission, and the division of workers' compensation shall weigh the evidence impartially without giving the benefit of the doubt to any party when weighing evidence and resolving factual conflicts.

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(RSMo 1939 § 3764, A.L. 1965 p. 397, A.L. 2005 S.B. 1 & 130)

Prior revision: 1929 § 3374

(1964) Where claimant's evidence showed the injury to have resulted from one or the other of two causes, for one of which, and not the other, employer and insurer were liable, claimant did not meet the burden of proof as to causal connection, and argument under § 287.800 that all doubts must be resolved in favor of employee did not extend to authorization of claim lacking some essential element required by law. Welker v. MFA Central Co-op. (A.), 380 S.W.2d  481.

(1965) Statutory injunction that the workmen's compensation law "shall be liberally construed with a view to the public welfare" neither impinges upon the function and right of the industrial commission, as trier of facts, to draw from the evidence such inferences as may be fairly and reasonably permissible, nor authorizes allowance of a claim lacking an essential element required by law. Johnson v. Simpson Oil Co. (A.), 394 S.W.2d  91.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 220 cases (15 in the last 5 years), 1954–2025 · leading case: State Ex Rel. KCP & L Greater Missouri Operations Co. v. Cook, 353 S.W.3d 14 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).
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State Ex Rel. KCP & L Greater Missouri Operations Co. v. Cook, 353 S.W.3d 14 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 44× “Those amendments, however, changed the Act in at least four material respects, which prevent us from relying on the historical interpretation of predecessor statutes. [8] 1. The 2005 amendments repealed the provision of the earlier statute which provided that "[a]ll of the…”
Curt Peters & Cheri Peters v. Wady Indus., Inc., & Patrick Terrio, 489 S.W.3d 784 (Mo. 2016). · cites it 10× “At the time the Badami court adopted the Wisconsin approach, section 287.800, RSMo 2000, stated that “[a]ll of the provisions of [the workers’ compensation law] shall be liberally construed with a view of the public welfare[.”
Custer v. Hartford Ins. Co., 174 S.W.3d 602 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 26× “so, as already mentioned, the Workers' Compensation Act itself includes a provision relating to judicial interpretation and application of the Act: All of the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed with a view to the public welfare and a substantial compliance…”
Leeper v. Asmus, 440 S.W.3d 478 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 16× “Our discussion was necessitated by the 2005 amendment to section 287.800 which required the Act to be strictly construed, and by our decision in Robinson v.”
Schoemehl v. Treasurer of the State, 217 S.W.3d 900 (Mo. 2007). · cites it 10× “" Section 287.800, RSMo 2000. [1] Any doubt as to the right of an employee to compensation should be resolved in favor of the injured employee.”
Miller v. Missouri High. & Transp. Comm'n, 287 S.W.3d 671 (Mo. 2009). · cites it 10× “§ 287.800, RSMo 2000. In 2005, the act was revised to provide that its provisions are to be construed strictly and to require the evidence to be weighed impartially without giving any party the benefit of the doubt.”
Wolfgeher v. Wagner Cartage Serv., Inc., 646 S.W.2d 781 (Mo. 1983). · cites it 10× “Pin Oaks Nursing Home, 625 S.W.2d 192, 193 (Mo.App.1981).”
Allcorn v. Tap Enter., Inc., 277 S.W.3d 823 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 12× “Specifically, section 287.800, also amended in 2005, requires that the “courts *828 shall construe the provisions of this chapter strictly.”
Johme v. St. John's Mercy Healthcare, 366 S.W.3d 504 (Mo. 2012). · cites it 6× “§ 287.800, RSMo 2000. In 2005, the act was revised to provide that its provisions are to be construed strictly and to require the evidence to be weighed impartially without giving any party the benefit of the doubt.”
Crabtree v. Bugby, 967 S.W.2d 66 (Mo. 1998). · cites it 10× “[5] Section 287.800, RSMo 1994. [6] Bass v. Nat'l Super Markets, Inc.”
Abrams v. Ohio Pac. Express, 819 S.W.2d 338 (Mo. 1991). · cites it 6× “This liberal rule of construction, however, means that questions of jurisdiction shall be resolved in favor of the commission: "However, the provisions of the Worker's Compensation statute are to be liberally construed with a view to the public welfare, § 287.”
Robinson v. Hooker, 323 S.W.3d 418 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 5× “§ 287.800. As a preliminary matter, we find that Hooker’s defense of immunity under the Workers’ Compensation Act did not raise a jurisdictional defect.”
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— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 287.800(1) — 1 case
Allcorn v. Tap Enter., Inc., 277 S.W.3d 823 (Mo. Ct. App. 2009). “Specifically, section 287.800, also amended in 2005, requires that the “courts *828 shall construe the provisions of this chapter strictly.”
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