Workers Compensation

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary text did not provide specific details on how the changes will affect specific cases until they are tested in courts, leaving some uncertainty.

Amending Tennessee Workers' Compensation Law

This bill amends Tennessee's workers' compensation laws to provide more benefits and protections for injured or deceased employees.

What This Bill Does

• Clarifies that families can sue employers if an employee dies due to the employer’s gross negligence or criminal actions, even though regular worker injury claims are limited by law.
• Increases the percentage of weekly wage paid during temporary total disability from 66⅔% to 75%.
• Raises the compensation for temporary partial disability from 66⅔% to 75% of the difference between pre-injury and post-injury wages.
• Boosts permanent partial disability payments from 66⅔% to 75% of the employee's average weekly wage, with provisions allowing for increased benefits if an employee later becomes permanently and totally disabled.
• Changes how resulting awards are calculated when employees do not return to work or earn less than their pre-injury wages.

Who It Names or Affects

• Employees who suffer injuries at work in Tennessee.
• Employers and workers' compensation carriers in Tennessee.
• Families of deceased employees whose deaths were caused by employer negligence or criminal conduct.

Terms To Know

Gross Negligence

A very serious lack of care that shows a conscious, reckless disregard for the safety of others.

Permanent Total Disability

When an employee is unable to work at all due to their injury and cannot find other suitable employment.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not change existing exceptions for intentional injuries by employers or co-employees.
• It remains unclear how the changes will affect specific cases until they are tested in courts.

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that the rights and remedies granted to an employee subject to the Workers' Compensation Law, on account of personal injury or death by an accident, are the exclusive rights and remedies of the employee, the employee's representative
, dependents or next of kin, for the injury or death. This bill clarifies that the exclusiveness of the rights and remedies granted to an employee, the employee's representative, dependents or next of kin under such law do not apply in any civil action f
or
damages arising out of the death of an employee where the death is alleged to have been caused by the gross negligence or criminal conduct of the employer, a principal, or intermediate contractor, or any officer, director, managing agent, or supervisory
employee of such person or entity. As used in this bill, "criminal conduct" means conduct that constitutes a felony or Class A or Class B misdemeanor under the laws of this state or the United States and that is a cause in fact and a legal cause of the e
mp
loyee's death.

In an action brought pursuant to the paragraph above, this bill authorizes an employee's personal representative, dependents, or next of kin to pursue all remedies and damages available in a wrongful death action in addition to any benefits payable under
the Workers' Compensation Law. However, any workers' compensation benefits paid or payable on account of the employee's death must be credited or set off against any recovery in such an action to the extent required by law.

This bill does not limit or abrogate any existing exception to the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers' Compensation Law, including any judicially recognized cause of action for intentional injury by an employer or co-employee.

CONTESTING EXTENT OF WORK INJURY

Present law authorizes an injured worker, or an injured worker's dependents, to pursue an action against a third person, when such third person is liable for the worker's injury or death. In the event of any recovery against such third person, an attorn
ey retained by the employer to effect recovery against the third person is entitled to a portion of the reasonable attorney's fees awarded by the court. Further, an employer may receive a subrogation lien against any recovery from such third person if th
e
employer's maximum liability for workers' compensation has been paid or discharged. This bill clarifies that an employer's recovery of attorney's fees or a subrogation lien is waived if such employer has contested the medical causation, permanency, or ex
tent of the employee's work injury.

SCHEDULE OF COMPENSATION

For injuries producing temporary total disability, present law requires 66 2/3% of the average weekly wage be paid to the employee, subject to the maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits. This bill raises the compensation percentage to 75% of the empl
oyee's average weekly wage subject to maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits.

For injuries producing temporary partial disability, present law requires 66 2/3% of the difference between the average weekly wage of the worker at the time of the injury and the wage the worker is able to earn in the worker's partially disabled conditi
on be paid to the employee, subject to the maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits. This bill raises the compensation percentage to 75% of the difference between the average weekly wage of the worker at the time of the injury and the wage the worker is
a
ble to earn in the worker's partially disabled condition, subject to maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits.

PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY

In the case of a disability that is partial in character but adjudged to be permanent, at the time the injured employee reaches maximum medical improvement, present law requires the injured employee to be paid 66 2/3% of the employee's average weekly wag
es for the period of compensation, which is determined by multiplying the employee's impairment rating by 450 weeks. Present law refers to this amount as the "original award." This bill increases the percentage to 75% of the employee's average weekly wa
ge
s for the period of compensation, subject to maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits.

Further, this bill provides that acceptance, payment, approval, or satisfaction of an original award does not extinguish, waive, release, or otherwise bar an employee's right to seek benefits for total disability if the employee later becomes permanently
and totally disabled as a result of the compensable injury. An employee may file for such permanent total disability benefits at any time after the conclusion of the compensation period for the original award, subject to statutes of limitation and repos
e.
This bill requires the employer to receive credit for permanent disability benefits paid to an injured employee for a partial permanent disability, but this credit does not preclude or limit an award of permanent total disability benefits for any period
after the expiration of the original award's compensation period. However, this bill clarifies that this provision does not diminish or impair an employee's right to seek increased benefits or extraordinary relief in addition to or instead of permanent
to
tal disability benefits.

Present law authorizes an employee with a temporary partial disability to file a claim for increased benefits if such employee has not returned to work at the time the period of compensation ends or 180 days after the employee reaches maximum medical impr
ovement, whichever is later. An employee is also eligible for an increased award if they have returned to work, but are earning a wage or salary less than 100% of the wages received pre-injury. Such an increased award is known as the "resulting award."

This bill provides a new method for calculating an employee's resulting award. The injured employee's original award must be increased by multiplying the original award by 2.5. In addition, the injured employee's resulting award must be further increas
ed by multiplying the resulting award by 1.45 if the employee lacks a high school diploma or equivalent and by 1.45 if the employee is older than 40 at the time the employee becomes eligible for an increased benefit.

PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY

For injuries resulting in total permanent disability, present law requires 66 2/3% of the wages received at the time of the injury be paid to be employee, subject to maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits. This compensation generally must be paid dur
ing the period of the permanent total disability until the employee is eligible for full benefits in the federal Old Age Insurance Benefit Program under the federal Social Security Act. This bill increases the percentage to 75% of the wages received at t
he
time of the injury, subject to maximum and minimum weekly benefit limits.

This bill provides that the right to permanent total disability benefits is independent of, and cumulative to, the right to permanent partial total disability benefits, as described above.

ATTORNEY'S FEES

Present law prohibits any attorney's fees for services to employees under the Workers' Compensation Law from exceeding 20% of the amount of the recovery or award to the injured worker. This bill increases the percentage to 25% of the amount of the recov
ery or award.

Present law authorizes the court of workers' compensation claims to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred when an employer unreasonably denies a claim or unreasonably fails to timely initiate any of the benefits to which the employee or dep
endents is entitled, if the workers' compensation judge makes a finding that the benefits were owed at an expedited hearing or compensation hearing. This bill, instead, authorizes for an award of reasonable attorneys' fees when an employer wrongfully den
ie
s a claim or wrongfully fails to timely initiate any of the benefits to which the employee or dependents is entitled if the workers' compensation judge makes a finding that the benefits were owed at an expedited hearing or compensation hearing. As used i
n this provision, "wrongfully" means erroneously, incorrectly, or otherwise inconsistent with the law or facts.

ON MARCH 12, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1981, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to add a requirement that an award of attorneys' fees and costs
incurred when an employer unreasonably denies a workers' compensation claim or unreasonably fails to timely initiate any of the benefits associated with the claim must be based on a finding by the workers' compensation judge that the employer's conduct wa
s unreasonable. When, at an expedited hearing, the workers' compensation judge concludes that the employer unreasonably denied the claim or unreasonably failed
to timely initiate benefits, this amendment authorizes the court to award attorneys' fees and costs at that time. If, in addition, the workers' compensation judge finds that the evidence of such unreasonableness is clear and convincing, then any award o
f attorneys' fees and costs must not be deferred to a compensation hearing.

ON APRIL 7, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1981 FOR HOUSE BILL 2179, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1981, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #2 makes the following changes:



Clarifies that the provisions of the bill regarding attorneys' fees and reasonable costs for an employer's unreasonable denial of a claim or failure to timely initiate benefits apply only to injuries that occur between July 1, 2026, and June 1, 2030.


Changes the effective date from upon becoming a law to July 1, 2026.

ON APRIL 13, 2026, THE SENATE CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #2.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1981
By Briggs

HOUSE BILL 2179
By Lafferty
HB2179
011592
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50,
Chapter 6, relative to workers' compensation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-108, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(d)
(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or another law to the contrary, the
exclusiveness of the rights and remedies granted to an employee, or to the
employee's personal representative, dependents, or next of kin, under this
chapter do not apply in any civil action for damages arising out of the death of an
employee where the death is alleged to have been caused, in whole or in part, by
the gross negligence or criminal conduct of the employer, a principal, or
intermediate contractor, as described in § 50-6-113, or any officer, director,
managing agent, or supervisory employee of such person or entity.
(2) In an action brought pursuant to subdivision (d)(1):
(A) An employee's personal representative, dependents, or next
of kin may pursue all remedies and damages available in a wrongful
death action under title 20, chapter 5, in addition to any benefits payable
under this chapter; and
(B) Any workers' compensation benefits paid or payable on
account of the employee's death must be credited or set off against any
recovery in such civil action to the extent required by § 50-6-112 or other
applicable law.

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(3) As used in this subsection (d):
(A) "Criminal conduct" means conduct that constitutes a felony or
Class A or Class B misdemeanor under the laws of this state or the
United States and that is a cause in fact and a legal cause of the
employee's death; and
(B) "Gross negligence" means a conscious, reckless, or callous
disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to an employee,
constituting a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable
employer would exercise under the circumstances.
(4) This subsection (d) does not limit or abrogate any existing exception
to the exclusive remedy provisions of this chapter, including any judicially
recognized cause of action for intentional injury by an employer or co-employee.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-112, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(e) The employer's or the employer's workers' compensation carrier's recovery of
a reasonable fee for attorney's services under subsection (b) and authority to have a
subrogation lien under subsection (c) are waived in the event that the medical causation,
permanency, or extent of the employee's work injury are contested by the employer with
medical opinion other than that from the employee's form C-42 panel physician.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(1)(A), is amended by
deleting "sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66⅔%)" and substituting "seventy-five percent (75%)".
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(2)(A), is amended by
deleting "sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66⅔%)" and substituting "seventy-five percent (75%)".
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(2)(B), is amended by
deleting "sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66⅔%)" and substituting "seventy-five percent (75%)".

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SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(3), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(I) Notwithstanding another provision of this chapter to the contrary:
(i) The acceptance, payment, approval, or satisfaction of an original
award, as described in subdivision (3)(A), does not extinguish, waive, release, or
otherwise bar an employee's right to seek benefits for permanent total disability
pursuant to subdivision (4), including by trial or settlement, if the employee later
becomes permanently and totally disabled as a result of the compensable injury;
(ii) An employee may file a petition for benefit determination or complaint
seeking permanent total disability benefits under subdivision (4) at any time after
the conclusion of the compensation period for the original award, subject only to
the applicable statutes of limitation and repose in this chapter;
(iii) In any proceeding under subdivision (4) following the payment of an
original award, the employer receives credit for permanent disability benefits
previously paid pursuant to subdivision (3), but such credit does not preclude or
limit an award of permanent total disability benefits for any period after the
expiration of the original award's compensation period; and
(iv) This subdivision (3)(I) does not diminish or impair an employee's right
to seek increased benefits under subdivision (3)(B) or extraordinary relief under §
50-6-242, in addition to or instead of permanent total disability benefits under
subdivision (4), where otherwise available.
SECTION 7. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(3)(A), is amended by
deleting "sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66⅔%)" and substituting "seventy-five percent (75%)".
SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(3)(B), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting:

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(B) If at the time the period of compensation provided by subdivision (3)(A) ends,
or one hundred eighty (180) days after the employee reaches maximum medical
improvement, whichever is later, the employee has not returned to work with any
employer or has returned to work and is receiving wages or a salary that is less than one
hundred percent (100%) of the wages or salary the employee received from the
employee's pre-injury employer on the date of the injury, the injured employee may file a
claim for increased benefits. The injured employee's original award as determined by
subdivision (3)(A) must be increased by multiplying the original award by a factor of two
and one-half (2.5). The award set out in this subdivision (3)(B) is referred to in this
subdivision (3)(B) as the "resulting award." In addition, the injured employee's resulting
award must be further increased by multiplying the resulting award by the product of the
following factors, if applicable:
(i) For education, one and forty-five one hundredths (1.45), if the
employee lacks a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential
approved by the state board of education; and
(ii) For age, one and forty-five one hundredths (1.45), if the employee
was more than forty (40) years of age at the time the period of compensation
ends, or one hundred eighty (180) days after the employee reaches maximum
medical improvement, whichever is later.
SECTION 9. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(4)(A)(i), is amended by
deleting "sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66⅔%)" and substituting "seventy-five percent (75%)".
SECTION 10. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-207(4), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(E) The right to permanent total disability benefits under this subdivision (4) is
independent of, and cumulative to, the right to permanent partial disability benefits under

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subdivision (3). The prior approval, payment, or completion of an original award under
subdivision (3)(A) does not preclude a subsequent adjudication that the employee is
permanently and totally disabled, or limit the duration of permanent total disability
benefits for periods of disability occurring after the conclusion of the compensation
period for the original or increased award.
SECTION 11. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-226(a)(1), is amended by
deleting "twenty percent (20%)" wherever it appears and substituting "twenty-five percent
(25%)".
SECTION 12. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-6-226(d)(1), is amended by
deleting subdivision (B) and substituting:
(B) Wrongfully denies a claim or wrongfully fails to timely initiate any of the
benefits to which the employee or dependent is entitled under this chapter, including
medical benefits under § 50-6-204, temporary or permanent disability benefits under §
50-6-207, or death benefits under § 50-6-210, if the workers' compensation judge makes
a finding that the benefits were owed at an expedited hearing or compensation hearing.
For purposes of this subdivision (d)(1)(B), "wrongfully" means erroneously, incorrectly, or
otherwise inconsistent with the law or facts.
SECTION 13. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.