SENATE BILL 698
By Kyle
HOUSE BILL 680
By Jones J
HB0680
002139
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
Title 8; Title 43; Title 50 and Title 68, relative to
employment of agricultural employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50, is amended by adding the following
as a new chapter:
50-12-101.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Adverse action" means a demotion, reassignment to a lower-ranked
position or to a position with a lower level of compensation, decrease in
compensation level, denial of a promotion, termination of employment, or other
decision for employment purposes that adversely affects an agricultural
employee;
(2) "Agricultural employee" or "employee":
(A) Means an individual who performs agricultural work for an
agricultural employer for valuable consideration; and
(B) Does not include a self-employed independent contractor;
(3) "Agricultural employee's representative" means an individual or entity
designated by an agricultural employee in a confidential, sealed filing with a
court;
(4) "Agricultural employer" or "employer":
(A) Means an individual or entity that:
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(i) Regularly engages the services of one (1) or more
employees, or contracts with an individual or entity that recruits,
solicits, hires, employs, furnishes, or transports employees; and
(ii) Is engaged in agricultural work; and
(B) Does not include this state or a county, municipality, or other
political subdivision of this state, or an entity created by this state or a
county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state;
(5) "Agricultural work" includes farming in all its branches, and, among
other things, includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil; dairying; the
production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of an agricultural or horticultural
commodity; the raising of livestock or poultry; and any practices performed by a
farmer or on a farm that are incident to or in conjunction with the farming
operation, including preparation for market, and delivery to storage, market, or
carriers for transportation to market;
(6) "Department" means the department of labor and workforce
development;
(7) "Key service provider" means a healthcare provider; a community
health worker; an education provider; an attorney or other legal advocate; a
government official, including a consular representative; a member of the clergy;
or another service provider to which an agricultural employee may need access;
and
(8) "Whistleblower" means an agricultural employee, or an agricultural
employee's representative, who has knowledge of an alleged violation of this
chapter and asserts a claim related to the alleged violation.
50-12-102.
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(a) An agricultural employer shall not retaliate against an agricultural employee:
(1) Who asserts a right protected under this chapter, including
complaining publicly or seeking or asserting the rights, remedies, or penalties
provided under this chapter; or
(2) Based on the agricultural employee's immigration status.
(b) There is a rebuttable presumption that an agricultural employer that takes an
adverse action against an agricultural employee within ninety (90) days after that
agricultural employee has asserted or sought a right, remedy, or penalty provided under
this chapter or by another law, or based on the agricultural employee's immigration
status, has retaliated against the agricultural employee.
50-12-103.
(a)
(1) An agricultural employee, an individual who has a familial or
workplace relationship with the agricultural employee or with whom the
agricultural employee exchanges care or support, a whistleblower, or key service
provider may assert a claim in the chancery or circuit court having jurisdiction in
the county where the alleged violation occurred.
(2) The statute of limitations for filing a claim as described in subdivision
(a)(1) is tolled from the date that an agricultural employee asserts a claim with
the department until ninety (90) days after the department declines to investigate
the claim.
(b)
(1) In addition to the right provided in subsection (a), an aggrieved
individual may assert a claim with the department, in accordance with rules
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promulgated by the department. The department shall allow a claim to be
submitted electronically on the department's website.
(2)
(A) The department may investigate a claim submitted for a
violation of this chapter.
(B) The department shall make a determination of whether to
investigate a claim within ninety (90) days from the date the claim was
received by the department. The department shall notify the complainant,
in writing, of the department's decision, and, if the department chooses
not to investigate the claim, notify the complainant of the complainant's
right to assert a claim in the chancery or circuit court having jurisdiction in
the county where the alleged violation occurred, along with the applicable
statute of limitations.
(C) If the department chooses to investigate and finds that an
agricultural employer violated this chapter, then the department may bring
an action in the chancery court of Davidson County on behalf of this state
against the agricultural employer that retaliated against:
(i) An agricultural employee;
(ii) An individual who has a familial or workplace
relationship with the agricultural employee; or
(iii) An individual with whom the agricultural employee
exchanges care or support.
(c) A court that finds that an agricultural employer violated this chapter may:
(1) Order injunctive relief to enjoin the continuance of the violation of this
chapter;
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(2) Award the plaintiff actual damages or ten thousand dollars ($10,000),
whichever is greater; or
(3) Award court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.
(d) A party that asserts a claim in accordance with this section and recovers
damages shall distribute the damages to the aggrieved individual or agricultural
employee.
50-12-104.
An agricultural employer shall pay to an agricultural employee no less than the
minimum wage required under 29 U.S.C. § 206.
50-12-105.
(a) An agricultural employer shall allow an agricultural employee to take an
uninterrupted and duty-free meal period of at least thirty (30) minutes when the
employee's shift exceeds five (5) consecutive hours.
(b)
(1) An employer shall, to the extent practicable, allow an employee to
take the meal period described in subsection (a) no sooner than one (1) hour
after the start of the employee's shift.
(2) An employer shall allow an employee to consume:
(A) An on-duty meal while performing the employee's duties, if the
nature of the business activities or other circumstances of the work make
provision of an uninterrupted meal period impractical; and
(B) The entire on-duty meal, without loss of compensation or time
for the period during which the agricultural employee consumed the on-
duty meal.
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(c) In addition to subsections (a) and (b), an employer shall allow an employee
to take an uninterrupted and duty-free rest period of at least ten (10) minutes within each
four (4) hours of work. This subsection (c) does not apply to a truck driver whose sole
and principal duty is to haul livestock or other farm products, including crops or silage, or
to an employee operating a combine harvester.
50-12-106.
The department shall promulgate rules to set required minimum overtime pay for
agricultural employees that is comparable to the overtime requirements applicable to
other types of employees in this state.
50-12-107.
(a) An agricultural employer shall not interfere with an agricultural employee's
reasonable access to:
(1) A key service provider during the time when the employee is not
performing compensable work, or during a paid or unpaid meal or rest period; or
(2) Visitors at the employee's employer-provided housing when the
employee is present at the housing.
(b) Notwithstanding this section, an employer may require a visitor who
accesses a work site to follow protocols that are applicable to third parties who may
access the work site. The employer may require a visitor or third party to follow a
protocol designed to:
(1) Manage biohazards and other risks of contamination;
(2) Promote food safety; or
(3) Reduce the risk of injury to, or from, livestock on a farm or ranch,
except an open range.
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(c) An individual, other than the employee who resides in the employer-provided
housing, shall not prohibit, bar, or interfere with, or attempt to prohibit, bar, or interfere
with, the access to or egress from the housing of an employee by another individual,
either by the erection or maintenance of a physical barrier; physical force or violence, or
threat of physical force or violence; or by an order or notice.
50-12-108.
(a)
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), an agricultural employer who
provides employer-provided housing or transportation for an agricultural
employee shall, at least once per week, provide transportation to an employee to
a location where the employee can access basic necessities, conduct financial
transactions, and meet with key service providers.
(2) An employer who provides employer-provided housing or
transportation for an agricultural employee who is actively engaged in the
production of livestock on an open range shall provide the transportation
described in subdivision (a)(1) not less than one (1) day per three (3) weeks.
(b) Subsection (a) does not:
(1) Limit or restrict an employee's right to travel using the employee's
own means of transportation;
(2) Require an employer to violate state or federal law; or
(3) Require an employer to provide the transportation described in
subsection (a) to an employee if the employee has access to the employee's own
vehicle and the employee is permitted to park the vehicle on the employer's
property.
50-12-109.
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(a) An agricultural employer shall post written notice of the rights provided under
this chapter:
(1) In an easily accessible, conspicuous location on the agricultural
employer's premises, including in the agricultural employee's employer-provided
housing;
(2) In a place where the employer customarily posts notices to the
employer's employees; and
(3) Electronically, including by email and on an intranet or internet
website, if the employer customarily communicates with its employees
electronically.
(b) The notice required by subsection (a) must be written in the English
language, and in a language spoken as the primary language by the majority of the
employer's employees.
50-12-110.
(a) The department shall promulgate rules to require an agricultural employer to
protect the employer's agricultural employees from heat- or cold-related stress, illnesses,
or injuries when the employees work outside in a temperature of:
(1) Thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit (32°F) or lower; or
(2) Eighty degrees Fahrenheit (80°F) or higher.
(b) The department shall set requirements to effectuate subsection (a) in rules
based on environmental factors, exposure time, acclimatization, and metabolic demands
of a job as set forth in the United States department of health and human services,
centers for disease control and prevention national institute for occupational safety and
health 2016 revised publication, or the most recent subsequent publication. The rules
must, at a minimum, include:
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(1) An advisory work schedule based on the temperatures described in
subdivisions (a)(1) and (2);
(2) Required additional breaks that must be provided to agricultural
employees based on the temperature;
(3) Recommendations for shelters to warm or cool agricultural workers,
depending on the temperature; and
(4) Other requirements or recommendations that the department
determines, in the department's discretion, are necessary for working in
temperatures described in subdivisions (a)(1) and (2).
50-12-111.
(a) An agricultural employer commits the offense of wage theft who hires an
agricultural employee and intentionally does not pay the agricultural employee for the
services the employee provides, at the minimum wage rate required under the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), title 50, chapter 2, or the
employment agreement between the employer and employee, whichever is greater, and
at the interval required under the FLSA, title 50, chapter 2, or the employment
agreement between the employer and employee, whichever is more frequent.
(b) The offense of wage theft must be graded as theft of services in accordance
with § 39-14-105.
50-12-112.
(a) There is created the agricultural work advisory committee. The advisory
committee is administratively attached to the department.
(b)
(1) The advisory committee is composed of eight (8) members and must
include:
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(A) One (1) individual from each grand division of this state, to be
appointed by the governor;
(B) Two (2) individuals who are qualified and knowledgeable
regarding agricultural work, to be appointed by the commissioner of labor
and workforce development;
(C) One (1) individual who is qualified and knowledgeable
regarding wages for agricultural work, to be appointed by the speaker of
the house of representatives;
(D) One (1) individual who is qualified and knowledgeable
regarding working conditions for agricultural work, to be appointed by the
speaker of the senate; and
(E) The commissioner of labor and workforce development, or the
commissioner's designee, as a nonvoting ex officio member.
(2) In making appointments to the advisory committee, the appointing
authorities shall coordinate the appointments to ensure that the advisory
committee membership is inclusive and reflects the diversity of this state.
(3) A vacancy on the advisory committee must be filled for the unexpired
term by the appointing authority and in such a manner to ensure that the
requirements of this section are met.
(4)
(A) Members appointed pursuant to subdivision (b)(1)(A) are
appointed for an initial term of two (2) years. Members appointed
pursuant to subdivision (b)(1)(B)–(D) are appointed for an initial term of
three (3) years. After the initial term, each member serves for a term of
four (4) years.
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(B) Each member shall hold over after the expiration of the
member's term until a successor has been duly appointed and qualified.
(C) Members may be reappointed for additional terms.
(5) Members serve without compensation, but members appointed
pursuant to subdivisions (b)(1)(A)–(D) may receive travel expenses in
accordance with the comprehensive travel regulations promulgated by the
department of finance and administration.
(c) The committee shall study and provide recommendations to the department
for:
(1) Appropriate wages for agricultural employees; and
(2) Methods to improve working conditions for agricultural employees.
SECTION 2. The department of labor and workforce development shall promulgate
rules to effectuate this act. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
SECTION 3. For purposes of promulgating rules, this act takes effect upon becoming a
law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes effect January 1, 2026,
the public welfare requiring it, and applies to conduct occurring on or after that date.