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HB1312 • 2026

State Employees

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 1, relative to state employment bereavement leave.

Children Education Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Lamberth, Johnson
Last action
2025-04-08
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 74
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Expanding Bereavement Leave for State Employees

This bill amends Tennessee's state employment rules to provide additional paid leave days when certain family members die.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds three days of paid leave if a state employee loses a sibling, grandparent, grandchild, foster parent, or parent-in-law.
  • Gives five days of paid leave if an employee's parent or stepparent dies.
  • Provides ten days of paid leave for the death of an employee’s spouse, child, or stepchild.

Who It Names or Affects

  • State employees in various agencies, boards, and departments listed in the bill.

Terms To Know

Bereavement Leave
Paid time off work given to an employee when a family member dies.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The exact effective date is not provided in the bill text.
  • It does not change leave days for deaths of other relatives that are already covered by existing rules.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 74

  2. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 03/25/2025

  3. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 74

  4. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  10. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 0, PNV 1

  12. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  13. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 3/17/2025

  14. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  15. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/13/2025

  16. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  17. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  18. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 0

  19. 2025-03-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/10/2025

  20. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/12/2025

  21. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  22. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  23. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  24. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Public Service Subcommittee for 3/5/2025

  25. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/4/2025

  26. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Public Service Subcommittee

  27. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  28. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  29. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  30. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  31. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  32. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law requires t
he officers and employees of the various agencies, boards, and departments of state government
to
be granted three days paid leave in the event of
the
death of such officers' or employees' spouse, children, stepchildren, parents, siblings, grandparents, gr
andchildren, stepparents, foster parents, or parents-in-law without charge to the affected officers' or employees' accumulated leave accounts.
However, this provision does not
increase the total number of leave days provided in rules of the department of
human resources for the death of a family member
.

This bill adds that the
officers and employees of the
following
agencies, boards, and departments of state government

must be
specifically
granted
(i) t
hree days paid leave in the event of the death of su
ch officers' or employees' siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, foster parents, or parents-in-law;
(ii) f
ive days paid leave in the event of the death of such officers' or employees' parents or stepparents; and
(iii) 10
days paid leave in the event of th
e death of such officers' or employees' spouse, children, or stepchildren
:



T
he executive branch and all boards, commissions and agencies of state government, except those specifically excluded
by law;


The judicial branch of state government
,
including

the administrative office of the courts
;


The office of the secretary of state
;


The office of the state treasurer
;


The office of the comptroller of the treasury
;


The office of the attorney general
;


The offices of the district attorneys general and the district public defenders
;


The schools, institutions, and entities governed by the state university boards, the board of regents, and the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee, the Tennessee School for the Blind, Tennessee School for the Deaf, West Tennessee School for the Deaf, Alvin C. York Institute, and any other special school
;


Any administrative boards and commissions attached to the entities listed
above
for administrative purposes
;


The Tennessee higher education commission
;


The
Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations
; and


The Tennessee rehabilitative initiative in correction board
;

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 1285
By Johnson

HOUSE BILL 1312
By Lamberth

HB1312
000563
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8,
Chapter 50, Part 1, relative to state employment
bereavement leave.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-113, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection (b) and redesignating the existing subsection (b) accordingly:
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the officers and employees of the various
agencies, boards, and departments of state government identified in §§ 8-30-102(a), 8-
30-102(b)(2)-(11), and 8-30-102(b)(13) must be granted:
(1) Three (3) days paid leave in the event of the death of such officers' or
employees' siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, foster parents, or parents-in-
law;
(2) Five (5) days paid leave in the event of the death of such officers' or
employees' parents or stepparents; and
(3) Ten (10) days paid leave in the event of the death of such officers' or
employees' spouse, children, or stepchildren.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.