Employees, Employers

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify penalties for first-time violations, leaving it open-ended.

Pay Stub Protection Act

This bill requires Tennessee employers to provide employees with detailed pay stubs on payday and sets penalties for non-compliance.

What This Bill Does

• Requires employers to give employees a written or electronic statement of their earnings, deductions, and other relevant information on payday.
• Specifies that the statement must include details such as gross wages, net wages, hours worked, and any additional pay or deductions.
• Allows employees who do not receive these statements to request them from their employer within 10 days.
• Requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to investigate complaints about non-compliance and issue warnings if necessary.
• Imposes civil penalties ranging from $50 to $500 for repeated violations, depending on factors like the size of the employer.

Who It Names or Affects

• Employees who receive wages or compensation from employers in Tennessee.
• Employers who pay employees in Tennessee and are required to provide pay stubs.

Terms To Know

Department

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development in Tennessee.

Employee

A person who performs services for an employer in exchange for compensation.

Employer

An individual or organization that hires employees and pays them for their work.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact penalties for first-time violations.
• It is unclear how many new positions will be created to enforce this act.
• The effectiveness of enforcement depends on the resources allocated by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Official Summary Text

This bill enacts
the "Pay Stub Protection Act
,
"
which requires an employer on or after July 1, 2025, to
provide to an employee in a written or electronic state, or another form of acces
s to, a statement of the employee's earnings and deductions for each pay period on the employer's paydays. The statement must include
all of
the following information:



The employee's name
and address, and the
employer's name.



The total gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period
.



The total net wages paid to the employee for the pay period
.



The amount and purpose of each addition to
,
or deduction from
,
the wages paid to the employee during the pay period
.



The date the employee was paid and the pay period covered by the payment
.



For an employee who is paid on an hourly basis,
(i) t
he total number of hours the employee worked during the pay period;

(ii) the hourly wage rate at which the employee was paid; and

(iii) the employee's hours worked in excess of 40 hours in one workweek.

EMPLOYEE REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF EARNINGS AND DEDUCTIONS

This bill authorizes an
employee who does not receive
such
a statement
to
make a written request, including electronically, to the employer for the statem
ent. The employer
must
provide the employee with the statement no later than 10 days after receipt of
such
request.

VIOLATIONS
–
ENFORCEMENT

If the employee does not receive the requested statement within the
10
-day period, then
this bill authorizes
the employee
to
submit a report of the violation to the department of labor and workforce development. The department
must
investigate
the
complaint and, if the department finds
the
employer
in violation
, issue a written warning to the employer.

If the
department receives a complaint of an employer who has received
such
a written warning after receipt of the written warning, then the department
must
conduct a contested case hearing on the question of whether the employer
is in violation
again. If the de
partment determines that the employer
is in violation
again, then the department
must
assess a civil penalty against the employer in an amount
between
$50
and
$500 per violation, depending upon the number of times an employer has
been in violation
, the
emp
loyer's
size, and other factors deemed appropriate by the department.

RULEMAKING

This bill requires the
department
to
promulgate rules to effectuate this section.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1257
By Lamar

HOUSE BILL 1384
By Harris

HB1384
001669
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3;
Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 50,
relative to pay stubs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50, Chapter 2, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) This section is known and may be cited as the "Pay Stub Protection Act."
(b) As used in this section:
(1) "Department" means the department of labor and workforce
development;
(2) "Employee" means a natural person who performs services for an
employer for valuable consideration;
(3) "Employer" means an individual, partnership, association,
corporation, business trust, legal representative, or organized group of persons
receiving services from an employee and, in return, giving compensation to the
employee; and
(4) "Workweek" means a fixed, regularly recurring period of one hundred
sixty-eight (168) hours that an employer expressly adopts for purposes of
complying with § 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 207).
(c) An employer shall provide to an employee of the employer in a written or
electronic state, or another form of access to, a statement of the employee's earnings
and deductions for each pay period on the employer's paydays. The statement must
include the following information:

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(1) The employee's name;
(2) The employee's address;
(3) The employer's name;
(4) The total gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period;
(5) The total net wages paid to the employee for the pay period;
(6) The amount and purpose of each addition to or deduction from the
wages paid to the employee during the pay period;
(7) The date the employee was paid and the pay period covered by the
payment; and
(8) For an employee who is paid on an hourly basis, the following
information:
(A) The total number of hours the employee worked during the
pay period;
(B) The hourly wage rate at which the employee was paid; and
(C) The employee's hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in
one (1) workweek.
(d)
(1) An employee who does not receive a statement as required by
subsection (c) may make a written request, including electronically, to the
employee's employer for the statement. The employer shall provide the
employee with the statement no later than ten (10) days after receipt of a request
submitted pursuant to this subsection (d).
(2) If the employee does not receive the requested statement within the
ten-day period, then the employee may submit a report of the violation to the
department of labor and workforce development. The department shall

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investigate a complaint submitted and, if the department finds that an employer
violated subsection (c), then the department shall issue a written warning to the
employer.
(3) If the department receives a complaint of an employer who has
received a written warning pursuant to subdivision (d)(2) violating subsection (c)
after receipt of the written warning, then the department shall conduct a
contested case hearing pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act,
compiled in title 4, chapter 5, on the question of whether the employer violated
subsection (c) again. If the department determines that the employer violated
subsection (c) again after receipt of the written warning, then the department
shall assess a civil penalty against the employer in an amount not less than fifty
dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation,
depending upon the number of times an employer has violated subsection (c),
the size of the employer, and other factors deemed appropriate for consideration
by the department.
(e) The department shall promulgate rules to effectuate this section. The rules
must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act,
compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
SECTION 2. For purposes of rulemaking, this act takes effect upon becoming a law, the
public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public
welfare requiring it, and applies to conduct occurring on or after that date.