Public Employees

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Special Leave for Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers

This bill creates special leave for eligible state employees who are foster parents or kinship caregivers to use when they need to attend court or counseling sessions related to the placement of a foster child.

What This Bill Does

• Creates special leave for eligible public employees who are foster parents or kinship caregivers.
• Allows these employees to take up to five workdays of paid leave per year for court appearances and counseling sessions regarding foster children.
• Ensures that this leave does not count against the employee's sick, annual, or other accumulated leave.
• Requires that this special leave be counted towards the federal Family and Medical Leave Act requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

• State employees who have worked full-time for at least one year in specific state entities such as the executive branch, judicial branch, and specific commissions and agencies.
• Employees of administrative boards and commissions that are not attached to the legislative branch or certain offices like the secretary of state.

Terms To Know

Eligible Employee

A full-time state employee who has worked for at least one year in specific state entities and is a foster parent or kinship caregiver.

Kinship Caregiver

An individual who cares for a relative's child, often due to the inability of the parents to do so.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill limits eligible employees to five workdays of paid leave per year.
• It does not specify what happens if an employee needs more than five days in one year for court or counseling sessions.

Official Summary Text

This bill creates

s
pecial leave
to be
granted to an eligible employee
working for this state
who is a foster parent or kinship caregiver.
The eligible employee may use this leave for when the employee is required to appear in court or counseling sessions regarding the placement of a foster child
.
Leave so used by an eligible employee must not be charged to sick, annual, or other leave the employee may have accumulated.

Leave
so
granted must count toward the eligible employee's use of leave required to b
e given by this state as an employer under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act
. However, a
n eligible employee
must not
be granted more than
five
workdays of paid leave under this bill during a
12
-month period
.

"ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE" DEFINED

As used in this bill, an "eligible employee" means either of the following:



An employee who has been employed full-time with the state for at least
12
consecutive months with
the executive branch and all boards, commissions and agencies of state government
, unless excluded by present law; the judicial branch, including
the administrative office of the courts
; t
he office of the attorney general;
t
he offices of the district attorneys general and the district public defenders;
t
he Tennessee higher education commission and all employees of that commission;

the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations;

the Tennessee housing development agency; and

the Tennessee rehabilitative initiative in correction board.



An employee who has been employed full-time with the state for at least
12
consecutive months with
a
ny administrative boards and commissions
, except for

an employee of any administrative board or commission that is attached to
the legislative branch or the
office of the secretary of state
, the
office of the state treasurer
, and t
he office of the comptroller of the treasury
.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 2282
By Carringer

SENATE BILL 1925
By Briggs
SB1925
010565
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8,
Chapter 50, relative to leave for public employees.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 8, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
8-50-815.
(a) Special leave is granted to an eligible employee who is a foster parent or
kinship caregiver. The eligible employee may use this leave for when the employee is
required to appear in court or counseling sessions regarding the placement of a foster
child.
(b) Leave used by an eligible employee pursuant to this section must not be
charged to sick, annual, or other leave the employee may have accumulated.
(c) Leave granted pursuant to this section must count toward the eligible
employee's use of leave required to be given by this state as an employer under the
federal Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq.) and § 4-21-408.
(d) An eligible employee must not be granted more than five (5) workdays of
paid leave under subsection (a) during a twelve-month period.
(e) As used in this section, "eligible employee" means:
(1) An employee who has been employed full-time with the state for at
least twelve (12) consecutive months with an entity described in §§ 8-30-102(a),
8-30-102(b)(2), 8-30-102(b)(6)-(7), and 8-30-102(b)(10)-(13); or
(2) An employee who has been employed full-time with the state for at
least twelve (12) consecutive months with an entity described in § 8-30-

- 2 - 010565

102(b)(9), except for an employee of any administrative board or commission
that is attached to an entity described in § 8-30-102(b)(1) or § 8-30-102(b)(3)-(5).
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.