AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 50-7-303, relative to suitable work requirements.
Summary
HB2542 amends Tennessee’s unemployment insurance law governing when a job offer is considered “suitable work.” The bill removes the existing statutory language in Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-7-303(a)(3)(A) that tied suitability to a set of wage-percentage thresholds based on the claimant’s prior average weekly wage. By deleting subdivisions (i) through (iv) and the accompanying wage formula, the bill eliminates the specific graduated wage test that had been used to determine whether offered work met the suitable-work standard.
As enacted, the bill leaves the broader suitable-work framework in place but strips out the detailed wage comparison language from that subsection. The practical effect is to change how unemployment claimants and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development evaluate whether a claimant must accept a job offer or risk disqualification from benefits, with the exact replacement standard depending on the remaining text of the statute and agency interpretation.
Impact
The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated § 50-7-303, which is part of the state’s unemployment compensation eligibility rules. Its main legal impact is to remove the statutory wage-percentage thresholds that previously helped define suitable work, thereby altering the criteria used to assess whether a claimant has refused suitable employment. This affects unemployment insurance claimants, employers offering work, and the state agency administering benefits, and may reduce the specificity of the current statutory test for suitable work.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been generally well received in the legislative process, with strong committee support and passage on the floor by comfortable margins. It advanced 5-0 in the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, 21-0 in the House Commerce Committee, and then passed the House floor 69-15 before final passage by the Senate on a 27-6 vote. The voting pattern suggests broad support, though not unanimous, indicating some legislators had reservations about changing the unemployment suitable-work standard.
Contention
The main point of contention is the removal of the explicit wage-based formula for determining suitable work. Supporters likely viewed the change as simplifying or modernizing the standard, while opponents may have been concerned that eliminating the percentage thresholds could make it harder for claimants to know what work they must accept or could broaden disqualification from unemployment benefits. The recorded votes show limited but real opposition, suggesting disagreement over how much discretion should be left to the agency or how protective the law should be for unemployed workers.