Tennessee Adopts Federal Employee Paid Leave Model

On Jan. 7, 2020, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order granting paid leave benefits to state employees similar to those that federal civilian employees will begin using on Oct. 1, 2020. In Tennessee beginning March 1, state employees have up to 12 weeks of leave at 100% of regular salary to care for children, family members, family members on active military duty, and for their own serious health condition. Advocates hope that as more government employees receive paid leave, this will stimulate passage of more paid leave mandates at the federal and state levels that will eventually extend to private sector employees. So far, 14 states have paid leave mandates with a great variety of provisions in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington state. Some of these laws are not fully implemented. Including the District of Columbia, 23 cities or counties have paid leave programs, although some are on hold pending legal action. Recent movement on state and federal paid leave initiatives, including bills in Congress, may have reduced the impetus for county or municipal ordinances. To learn more about state and local paid leave laws, visit http://dmec.org/resources/state-and-local-leave-laws-resource/.

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