Tennessee Employers are Required to Compensate Employees for Travel Time To and From Jury Duty
Executive Summary: In an October 10, 2011 Attorney General Opinion, the Tennessee Attorney General opined that Tennessee employers are required to compensate employees for travel time to and from jury duty in addition to the employees' actual jury service.
New Tennessee Attorney General's Opinion Opens Door to Wage Claims by Employees Serving Jury Duty
As a general rule, the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require an employer to pay an employee’s travel time between home and their regular place of work.
Tennessee Lawful Employment Act Imposes New Immigration-Related Requirements on Employers
On June 7, 2011, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed new legislation into law that threatens employers with the suspension of their business license if they fail to comply with certain immigration-related requirements. The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act is designed to curtail the employment of illegal immigrants in Tennessee by requiring businesses to collect and maintain documentation proving that employees and other persons who provide labor or services, such as independent contractors, are eligible to work in the United States.
Tennessee Enacts New Employment Authorization Law
Executive Summary: The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act ("TLEA") was signed into law on June 7, 2011, and gives employers the option of either enrolling in the federal E-Verify program or obtaining specific employment authorization documentation from employees.
Tennessee Adopts Worker-Verification Law
Tennessee has joined the increasing number of states attempting to curtail the employment of unauthorized aliens by passing its own employment eligibility verification law. The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act (SB 1669, HB 1378), signed by Governor Bill Haslam on June 7, 2011, requires employers to use the E-verify program, with exceptions, as soon as January 1, 2012.
Tennessee Governor Signs Immigration Enforcement Law
Tennessee employers soon will be required to take several actions under a new immigration law. The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act requires employers to use E-Verify, or to maintain documentation of legal residency or valid U.S. work authorization for all employees hired after the effective date. The law takes effect for governmental entities and private employers with 500 or more employees on January 1, 2012. On July 1, 2012, the law will apply to private employers with 200-499 employees and all employers with more than six employees will be covered as of January 1, 2013. Employers will also be required to maintain documentation of legal residence or valid U.S. work authorization for non-employees providing labor or services.
Tennessee Legislature Reverses Tennessee Supreme Court on Employment Litigation
On May 21, 2011, the Tennessee Legislature passed legislation that restores a balanced approach to employment litigation in Tennessee. Baker Donelson attorneys Larry Eastwood and Ben Bodzy worked with pro-employer advocates, including the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, to help draft this legislation and advocate on its behalf.
Tennessee Governor Signs Law Allowing Guns In Workplace
Tennessee employers may now allow handguns on their property under a bill, S.B. 519, signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam on March 31, 2011. The law specifies that an employer's decision to permit handguns at work does not constitute an occupational safety and health hazard for Tennessee employees. Tennessee law already allowed employers to permit employees to possess weapons on their property. See Tenn. Code Section 39-17-1359. This measure clarifies that employers who permit employees to carry weapons on their property do not, by that act, create an unsafe workplace. While an administrative law judge recently ruled against an employee who raised such a claim, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration had responded to that ruling by announcing that such decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis.
Tennessee Supreme Court Rulings Mean Employers May See More State-Court Retaliation Claims
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently issued two decisions that likely will make it more difficult for Tennessee employers to obtain summary judgment (and, thus, avoid going to trial) on state-law retaliatory discharge claims. In Kinsler v. Berkline (September 2010) and Gossett v. Tractor Supply Co. (September 2010), the TNSC held that the McDonnell Douglas framework is inapplicable at the summary judgment stage because it is incompatible with Tennessee's summary judgment jurisprudence.
Tennessee Supreme Court Opens Door for More Employment Litigation
On September 20, 2010, the Tennessee Supreme Court surprised the legal and business community with its announcement in Gossett v. Tractor Supply Company of a new legal standard for summary judgment in employment cases in Tennessee state courts. Summary judgment motions are often used by employers in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuits to obtain a favorable result prior to trial. Since 1984, Tennessee state courts have decided summary judgment motions in such cases using the same analytical framework used by federal courts. Under this framework, which is often referred to as the "McDonnell Douglas framework" after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision where it was first articulated, employers who offer evidence of a lawful reason for a challenged employment decision are entitled to summary judgment, unless the employee can present evidence that the reason offered by the employer was not the real reason for the challenged decision.
