Tennessee Employment Legal Questions

I am not exactly sure what you mean by "decline to acknowledge", but your employer can require you to sign a performance evaluation and terminate you if you refused to do so. If there is anything in the performance evaluation that you disagree with, you should note that you disagree near your signature.  However, most large corporations perfomance evaluation forms note that signing the document is only acknowleging that you recieved the document which is fine.... Read More

Any party to a potential contract can put a time limit on the other parties acceptance and that includes an employment related contract. Therefore, your employer could lawfully say "sign this contract by tomorrow or _____."  Assuming you are an employee-at-will like most in Tennessee, the _______ could be termination.  The exception to this would be if you are over 40 and signing a release of claims, i.e. a severance agreement, in which case you would be given either 21 days or 45 days depending on the situation.... Read More

Yes. Unless you work for the federal government or certain unionized employers, you are an employee-at-will who can be fired at any time for any reason.  It does not matter if it is a good reason, bad reason or no reason at all.  The employer has a right to approve, not approve or change approval for time off.... Read More

In general it is unlawful for an employee with 15 or more employees to share medical information about an employee with people who are not "need to know." This confidentiality for medical information is provided by a law called The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and applied whether or not an employee has a disability. The EEOC enforces the ADA including its requirement for medical/health information confidentiality.  I think you meant to type HIPAA instead of HIPPS.  If so, then no, this is not a HIPPA violation because employers are not "covered entities" that HIPAA regulates.... Read More

Tennessee is an employment-at-will state where an employee can be fired at any time for any reason.  Employers are not legally required to follow their own termination policies when dealing with an employee-at-will. There is no "fairness" or "just cause" requirement in the employment law. So, not being facetious, but to answer your last question, they can fire you by simply telling you that you are fired. The only way for you to file a wrongful firing claim in Tennessee is if you can prove that the firing was due to unlawful discrimination (i.e. race, sex, disability etc) or unlawful retaliation (i.e. for using FMLA, filing for work comp, etc).... Read More

Nurse are not exempt simply because they are nurses.  Certain types of nurses may be exempt depending on the situation.  For example, nurse practioners are often exempt as are many nurse managers.  I strongly recommend that she consult as soon as possible with an experienced employment attorney. Keep in mind that you or she will need to reach out to attorneys as attorneys are prohibited from soliciting her directly.... Read More

Employers generally are not required to allow employees time off work other than governmental service matters (jury duty, military).  However, if your employer is covered by the FMLA and you are an eligible employee, the employer would be required to allow you upto 12 weeks of leave to deal with a serious health condition.  If the FMLA applies, and you have not used your 12 weeks, you may have a legal claim. Additionally, if you are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (I cannot tell without a lot more information), your employer may be required to provide a reasonable accomodation to allow you to work with your restrictions even if you are not able to come back 100%. These are very complex legal claims/issues so you need to consult with an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible to fully discuss.... Read More

Yes, you can be fired while under a doctor's care.  It is lawful to terminate an employee for missing work. If the reason is health/medical related, the employer could lawfully fire you for missing work unless the absence was covered by FMLA or, in rare cases, the Americans With Disabilities Act.... Read More

I do not see a quesiton in this post.  However, I will point out that bullying or being a terrible and mean boss is not a violation of the law in Tennessee.  Additionally, your boss cannot deny your unemployment.  The decision whether to grant unemployment or not is made by the State of Tennessee and if you do not agree with that decision then you can appeal.... Read More

The employer is allowed to pay you a salary and does not have to pay overtime if your job meets the exemption requirements in the law. Employment discrimination is unlawful in Tennessee if it is based on an employees "protected class" such as race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age 40 or older.... Read More

Tennessee is an employment-at-will state where an employee can be treated very badly. However, this could be a violation of the law if he is doing it to you for an unlawful reason.  For example, if he is doing this to you because you are pregnant or because you are female. If you believe either of these are the motivation for his actions, you should discuss this situation with an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible.... Read More