Employees, Employers

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Employer Requirements for Mental Health Evaluations

This bill requires employers to provide employees or job applicants reasonable access to mental health evaluation results and allows them to sue if denied.

What This Bill Does

• Requires employers to grant reasonable access to the results of a mental health evaluation given as part of employment conditions, including any report from a mental health professional or other evaluator.
• Limits the time for accessing these results to normal business hours.
• Allows employees or job applicants who are denied access to sue their employer in court for declaratory or injunctive relief.
• Ensures that successful lawsuits result in the employee receiving reasonable court costs and attorney fees.

Who It Names or Affects

• Employers, including the state of Tennessee and its political subdivisions.
• Employees and prospective employees who undergo mental health evaluations as part of employment conditions.

Terms To Know

Employee

An individual who performs services for an employer in exchange for valuable consideration, excluding self-employed independent contractors.

Employer

An individual or entity that hires one or more employees and includes the state of Tennessee and its political subdivisions.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what constitutes 'reasonable access' beyond normal business hours.
• It is unclear how this law will be enforced in practice.

Official Summary Text

This bill requires an
employer
, which includes this state and its political subdivisions,
that requires an employee or prospective employee to submit to a mental health evaluation as a condition of employment or prospective employment
to
grant
such person
reasonable access to the results of the evaluation, including any report from a mental health professional or other evaluator.
However, t
he employer may require that such access be during normal business hours.

This bill authorizes an
employee who is denied access to a mental health evaluation
as described above to
bring a private cause of action against the employer for declaratory or injunctive relief. A court
must
award to an employee who prevails in such action reasonable court costs and attorney fees.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2033
By Lowe

HOUSE BILL 2016
By Cochran
HB2016
011156
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8 and
Title 50, relative to employment-related mental
health evaluations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50, Chapter 1, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Employee" means an individual who performs services for an
employer for valuable consideration, and does not include a self-employed
independent contractor; and
(2) "Employer" means an individual or entity that employs one (1) or
more employees and includes this state and political subdivisions of this state.
(b) An employer that requires an employee or prospective employee to submit to
a mental health evaluation as a condition of employment or prospective employment
shall grant the employee or prospective employee reasonable access to the results of
the evaluation, including any report from a mental health professional or other evaluator.
The employer may require that such access be during normal business hours.
(c) An employee who is denied access to a mental health evaluation as provided
in subsection (b) may bring a private cause of action against the employer for
declaratory or injunctive relief. A court shall award to an employee who prevails in such
action reasonable court costs and attorney fees.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.