Tennessee Labor Laws – Find Labor Lawyers TN

In Tennessee, there are labor laws to protect workers’ rights. The state’s laws also outline the procedures employees can use to protect these rights.

Are There Any Legal Restrictions Against Firing, Suspending or Disciplining Employees?

Employers may legally terminate an employee at any time for any reason or for no reason without incurring legal liability. However, an employer may not discriminate against any employee based on the employee’s race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin, or disability. Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any reason, with no adverse legal consequences.

How Do I File a Claim Against My Employer for Wages Owed?

The first step is to file a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. This is done online. Once you submit this complaint online, you will receive a “Statement of Wage Claim Form” with an assigned inspector listed.

Your claim form must include a statement of explanation, the amount of wages you are owed, and your signature. You must mail or email it back to the Inspector at the top of the form to initiate an investigation.

Once the assigned Inspector has received the completed Statement of Wage Claim Form, it will be reviewed for confirmation of statutory requirements. The Inspector will then inform your employer that a claim has been received. If the company fails to resolve the issue within 20 calendar days, the claim is forwarded to the Central Office for review and possible penalty assessment.

If the employer requests a contested case hearing, you may be called on to attend the hearing and present your side of the claim.

What is the Minimum Wage in Tennessee?

Tennessee is one of five states that does not have a minimum wage law or exemptions for certain categories of workers, like tipped employees and full-time students. Tennessee does not have its minimum wage, so the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies. Tipped employees must receive at least the federal minimum of $2.13 per hour. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 4 percent of hourly workers in Tennessee earned at or below $7.25 an hour, the highest percentage of minimum wage workers.

If an employer fails to pay their employees the proper minimum wage amount, it could lead to a wage and hour lawsuit, sometimes called wage and salary claims. These types of claims require the court to review the employee’s payments and determine a proper remedy, such as payment of back wages.

What is the Difference Between Part-Time vs. Full-Time in Tennessee?

Tennessee lets employers set the number of hours you must work to be full-time or part-time. There are no full- or part-time laws have a set number of hours listed. Instead, you should check with your Human Resources department to see what your status is at your job.

Are There Overtime Laws in Tennessee?

Instead of creating its own state law to determine how much employees should receive for overtime, Tennessee follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which states that employees are entitled to 1 and ½ times their standard pay per hour for any hours over 40 hours per week.

Employers in Tennessee can request as much overtime as they want from their employees because Tennessee has not placed any restrictions on overtime. Overtime violations (primarily failure to pay) can also lead to wage and hour claims in the same way as minimum wage violations.

Does Tennessee Require Employee Health Benefits?

Like most other states, Tennessee does not have its own laws regarding health benefits. Instead, the state follows the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires any employer with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health insurance. Health insurance must be offered to at least 95% of the full-time employees. However, if there are less than 50 employees at the company, it is up to the individual company to decide if they will offer health insurance.

Are There Employment Discrimination Laws in Tennessee?

Federal and Tennessee state laws do not allow employers to discriminate against employees. In every state, employees cannot be discriminated against in every state because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or citizenship status. Tennessee also includes another protection that makes it illegal to discriminate against employees who need a guide dog in the workplace.

If you have been discriminated against by your employer, you can contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Tennessee Human Rights Commission about filing a complaint against your employer. There are several time limits you should be careful about; speak with a local lawyer to find out what they are.

Tennessee law forbids employers from retaliating against employees who file a complaint against them. In any civil cause of action for retaliatory discharge or any civil cause of action alleging retaliation for refusing to participate in or remain silent about illegal activities, the employee has the burden of establishing a prima facie case of retaliatory discharge. If the employee satisfies this burden, then the employer must produce evidence that they had at least one legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee’s discharge.

The burden on the employer is one of production and not persuasion. If the employer produces any evidence, the burden shifts to the employee to demonstrate that the reason given by the employer was not the true reason for the employee’s discharge and that the stated reason was a pretext for unlawful retaliation.

If you decide to sue your employer in state court over the violation, Tennessee limits the available remedy the amount of damages you can win for a discrimination lawsuit to only compensatory damages.

In other words, Tennessee does not allow employees to pursue punitive damages against their employer in a discrimination suit. If you decide to file your case in a federal court, the maximum amount of punitive damages you may be able to get depends on the size of the company:

• $50,000 if the company has between 15 and 100 employees;
• $100,000 if the company has between 101 and 200 employees;
• $200,000 if the company has between 201 and 500 employees; or
• $300,000 if the company has more than 500 employees.

Is There Time Off for Employees in Tennessee?

Tennessee adheres to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which affects employees who work at companies with 50 or more employees and engage in interstate business.

Under you are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, the right to return to your job after the period of leave, and all of your employer’s medical and health benefits while you are on leave. Conditions that trigger these protections include your own serious illness, the illness of a family member you care for, and more.

Along with the leave provided by the FMLA, Tennessee gives new parents and pregnant women 4 months of leave if they work for a company with at least 100 employees.

Tennessee does not require paid sick or vacation leave. It is up to each company to decide what it wants to do and notify its employees of its decision. However, if a company does have paid vacation leave and you end your job with time left, Tennessee requires that the employer pay you for that time.

Where Can I Find a Local Lawyer to Help Me?

Having a lawyer to represent you during your fight to enforce your rights is important. If you are worried about your employment rights. A Tennessee labor lawyer in your area can provide legal advice and representation for your specific issues.