Nevada State Library and Archives

Nevada Executive Branch Agencies

State Industrial Insurance System (SIIS)/
Nevada Industrial Commission

Administrative History

The Nevada Industrial Insurance Commission was created by the Legislature in 1913 to provide for the creation and disbursement of funds for the compensation and care of workmen injured in the course of employment and compensation to their dependents where such injuries result in death.  The same act charged the Commission with defining and regulating the liability of employers to their employees.  The Commission was composed of three commissioners:  the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Inspector of Mines.  The fund created for the Commission through employer insurance premiums was not part of the state treasury but a special fund held in trust by the State Treasurer.

The Commission name was modified by the 1947 State Legislature to the Nevada Industrial Insurance Commission.  The Commission consisted of three members:  two appointed by the Governor and a third appointed by an Industrial Commission Board that was created by the same legislation.  The Board consisted of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Inspector of Mines.  Further amendments by the Legislature in 1953 specified that all appointments of the Commission were to be made by the Governor.  One member representing labor was nominated by the Nevada State Federation of Labor; one member, also representing labor, was nominated by the Congress of Industrial Organizations for the State of Nevada; and a third member represented employer interests.

The 1981 Legislature created the State Industrial Insurance System (SIIS) and transferred all of the State Insurance Fund to the Fund for Workers Compensation.  SIIS was placed under the Department of Industrial Relations and was governed by a new, nine-member board.  In 1985 SIIS was administratively placed under the Department of Industrial Relations that subsequently became Department of Business and Industry in 1991.

By the mid-1990s the solvency of the State Industrial Insurance System became a major issue, as claims exceeded income and questions were raised about the legitimacy of many claims.  Consequently, the 69^th legislative session (1997) took several steps to resolve this situation:  it designated special appropriations for each of two years to bring SIIS funds back into balance; it established SIIS as an independent, actuarially-funded system and specified major changes in its administration; it authorized the System to create one or more entities to carry out the business of the System (and to use any legal name in addition to "SIIS"); and specified this was to be a public agency subject to executive and legislative review.

Still problems continued, culminating with the 1999 State Legislature that authorized the manager of SIIS to create a mutual insurance company by August 1, 1999, and if said company met various requirements, to transfer all funds, assets, property, securities, obligations, and debts to the new company on January 1, 2000.  After one year as a public entity, the Employers Insurance Company of Nevada was privatized.  The 2001 Legislature abolished the Legislative Committee on Workers Compensation and the State was no longer in the workers' compensation business.  

NOTE:  The Nevada State Archives does not have disability case files.  To inquire about these files contact the Employers Insurance Company of Nevada at:  http://www.employers.com/

Records of the Nevada Industrial Commission       1913-1996        109 cu. ft.

Records for this agency are found in three accessions with some overlapping of two of them.

Records identified by the Archives staff in the NIC group date from 1913-1993 and consist of 7 cu. ft.  The include a ledger for the State Insurance Fund, records documenting corporate contributors to NIC, audits and investigation reports, some hearing transcripts, Boulder Dam materials, and a file on the Nevada Protective Mining and Investment Company.

Records identified by the Archives staff in the SIIS group date from 1967-1996 and consist of 60 cu. ft.  The include Executive Board minutes, legislative files, reader files, subject files dealing with issues such as medical care costs, investment, and audits

Records of the Occupational Safety and Health Division include the following items.