Tennessee Senate Bill SB1358

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 50, relative to bereavement leave.

Summary

SB1358 amends Tennessee’s state employee bereavement leave law to expand and clarify paid leave available after the death of certain family members. Under the bill, officers and employees of state government agencies, boards, and departments would receive three paid days of leave for the death of a spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, stepparent, foster parent, or parent-in-law. The bill also creates a much longer leave entitlement—three months of paid leave—when the employee’s child or stepchild dies. The measure revises Tennessee Code Annotated Section 8-50-113 by replacing the existing subsection governing bereavement leave for state employees. It does not appear to affect private employers or local government workers; its scope is limited to officers and employees of state government. The act is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Impact

The bill would amend Title 8, Chapter 50 of the Tennessee Code to expand paid bereavement leave benefits for state employees and to codify a new three-month paid leave period for the death of a child or stepchild. It would directly affect state agencies, boards, and departments by requiring them to provide leave without charging the employee’s accumulated leave balances. The bill would not alter general private-sector labor law, but it would increase the state’s leave obligations and likely its personnel costs.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the available record suggests a straightforward, employee-supportive measure with no documented opposition in the provided materials. The bill’s framing as a bereavement leave expansion indicates a generally compassionate policy approach focused on supporting grieving state workers.

Contention

No committee transcripts or vote records were provided, so no specific objections or amendments can be identified from the available context. The main policy distinction in the bill is the unusually long three-month paid leave for the death of a child or stepchild, which may raise questions about administrative cost, staffing coverage, and consistency with other leave policies, but no named stakeholders or formal points of contention appear in the record provided.