Tennessee Maternity Laws: Who Is Bound By Them?

Tennessee's maternity laws apply to employers with 100 or more full-time employees at a job site or location. These laws allow both male and female employees to take up to four months off for adoption, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing an infant, as long as the employee has been employed for 12 months. The leave may be with or without pay, at the option of the employer. The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) also prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant women, which may entitle them to time off in some cases.

Tennessee's Parental Leave Act

Employees must give at least three months' advance notice of their anticipated date of departure, the length of their leave, and their intention to return to full-time employment. In cases of medical emergency, or if the notice of adoption was received less than three months in advance, employees will not forfeit their rights and benefits for failing to give three months' notice. At the end of the leave period, employees are entitled to be reinstated to their previous or similar positions with the same status, pay, length of service credit, and seniority.

The leave period can begin before the birth of the child, and in the case of adoption, the four-month period starts when the employee receives custody of the child. The law does not require employers to pay employees during this leave period, and employers are not liable for reinstating employees who use the leave period to pursue other employment opportunities or work for another employer.

FMLA and state law

Tennessee's maternity leave law applies to employers with 100 or more full-time employees at a job site or location. Employees who have worked full-time for the same employer for at least 12 consecutive months can take up to four months of leave for adoption, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing an infant. This leave may be paid or unpaid, at the discretion of the employer.

The federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) also applies to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the employee's worksite. Under the FMLA, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks off work in a 12-month period for pregnancy and childbirth. This leave is unpaid, but employees can choose to use any accrued paid leave during this period.

Tennessee's maternity leave law does not cover employers with fewer than 100 full-time employees, but the FMLA can still provide job protection for employees in these cases. Additionally, the FMLA covers other situations, such as caring for an immediate family member with a serious health condition or a qualifying exigency arising from a spouse, son, daughter, or parent's military service.

If an employee is eligible for leave under both the FMLA and Tennessee's pregnancy leave law, the first 12 weeks of leave will count under both laws. In other words, the employee cannot take four months of leave under the state law and then take an additional 12 weeks of FMLA leave.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was enacted in 1978, amending Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The PDA covers employers with 15 or more employees.

The PDA prohibits employers from discriminating against job applicants or employees due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. This includes treating applicants or employees unfavourably in any aspect of employment, such as hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, and any other terms or conditions of employment.

The PDA also prohibits employers from denying reasonable accommodations to job applicants and employees with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations must be provided unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer's business operations.

Under the PDA, employees who are temporarily unable to perform their jobs due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions must be treated the same as other employees who are similarly affected but not pregnant. For example, if light-duty work is assigned to employees who are temporarily unable to perform their duties due to medical conditions, then pregnant employees must also be given light-duty assignments if denying them would impose a significant burden and the employer does not have sufficiently strong reasons for the denial.

The PDA also protects employees from retaliation for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on pregnancy or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation related to pregnancy discrimination.

In addition to the PDA, other federal laws such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) also provide protections for pregnant employees and require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations or disabilities.

Tennessee's Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Tennessee's maternity leave laws apply to employers with 100 or more full-time employees at a job site or location. These laws allow employees to take up to four months of unpaid leave for adoption, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing an infant. To be eligible, employees must have worked for the same employer for at least 12 consecutive months full-time.

In addition to these laws, Tennessee's Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) provides further protections for pregnant workers. The PWFA requires employers with at least 15 employees to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, including those related to pregnancy, childbirth, and associated medical conditions. This may include flexible scheduling for prenatal visits or temporary transfers to less strenuous positions. However, employers are not required to provide accommodations that would impose an undue hardship on their operations.

The PWFA also prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees for requesting or using reasonable accommodations. For example, employers cannot count pregnancy-related absences under a no-fault attendance policy. If an employee requests a temporary transfer, job restructuring, light duty, or absence from work due to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer may require medical certification from a healthcare professional.

It is important to note that the PWFA does not provide greater protections than those afforded to other employees requiring reasonable accommodations. For instance, if an employer would not create a light-duty position for a non-pregnant employee, they are not required to do so for a pregnant employee. Similarly, employers are not required to construct permanent spaces dedicated solely to expressing breast milk.

Any person adversely affected by a violation of the PWFA may take legal action and seek relief, including back pay, compensatory damages, prejudgment interest, reasonable attorney fees, and other appropriate remedies.

The PWFA strengthens workplace protections for pregnant workers in Tennessee, ensuring that they can access necessary accommodations without facing discrimination or adverse consequences.

Tennessee's Maternity Leave Law

Employees intending to take maternity leave are required to give their employers at least three months' advance notice of their anticipated departure date, length of leave, and intention to return to full-time employment. In cases of medical emergency, employees who are unable to provide three months' notice will not forfeit their rights and benefits. At the end of the leave period, employees must be reinstated to their previous or similar positions, with the same status, pay, length of service credit, and seniority, unless the employer cannot fill the position temporarily or the employee used the leave period to pursue other employment opportunities.

The law also specifies that the leave period may be with or without pay at the employer's discretion. During the leave, the employer is not required to provide the cost of benefits, unless it does so for all employees on leave. Additionally, the leave period does not affect the employee's right to receive vacation time, sick leave, bonuses, advancement, seniority, length of service credit, or other benefits of their employment position.

It is important to note that Tennessee's maternity leave law runs concurrently with the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Tennessee's law provides greater benefits than the FMLA, and therefore takes precedence.

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