Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 33.

This bill revises employment protections for members of the Tennessee national guard, Tennessee state guard, and civil air patrol who are on active state duty. <br /> <br /> PRESENT LAW<br /> <br /> Under present law, all officers and employees of this state, of any department or agency, or of any county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision, all other public employees of this state and all private sector employees who are members of the Tennessee army and air national guard on active state duty or the Tennessee state guard and civil air patrol are entitled to an unpaid leave of absence from their respective duties, without loss of time, pay not specifically related to leave of absence time, regular leave or vacation or impairment of efficiency rating for all periods of service during which under competent orders they are engaged in the performance of duty or training in the service of this state, including performance of duties in emergency. This unpaid leave provision is in addition to the paid leave provided by present law to members of the reserve components of the armed forces for periods of military service during which they are engaged in the performance of duty or training in the service of this state, or of the United States, under competent orders.<br /> <br /> THIS BILL<br /> <br /> This bill revises the above-described unpaid leave provisions to specify that unpaid leave applies to employees who are on active state duty as members of the Tennessee national guard, Tennessee state guard, or civil air patrol, pursuant to active state duty provisions. Under this bill, these individuals will also be entitled to equivalent protections regarding the right to reemployment to those protections afforded under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 to service members called to federal active service. <br /> <br /> This bill adds that to be eligible for the unpaid leave and reemployment protection, a person must satisfy the following: <br /> <br /> (1) A person whose period of service in the uniformed services was 30 days or less must report for work to the person's employer not later than the first full regularly scheduled work period following a period of eight hours after the person has completed the person's period of service and has been safely transported to the person's residence, unless reporting for work within that time period is not reasonably practicable through no fault of the person, in which case the person must report for work as soon as reasonably practicable;<br /> <br /> (2) A person whose period of service in the uniformed services was greater than 30 days but not more than 180 days must submit an application for reemployment with the person's employer within 14 days after completion of the person's period of service, unless doing so is not reasonably practicable through no fault of the person, in which case the person must submit an application for reemployment as soon as reasonably practicable; or<br /> <br /> (3) A person whose period of service in the uniformed services was greater than 180 days must submit an application for reemployment with the person's employer within 90 days after completion of the period of service.<br /> <br /> This bill requires a person protected by these unpaid leave and reemployment provisions to provide advance notice to the individual's employer of the competent call to active state duty, unless impossible or unreasonable. Also, this bill provides that the chancery court in the jurisdiction where the protected individual is employed has jurisdiction and authority to enforce these provisions, including ordering an employer to comply with the provisions. <br />