Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Tennessee General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
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~tate of \!Cennessee
PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 621
HOUSE BILL NO. 957
By Representatives Slater, Gillespie, Helton-Haynes, Renea Jones, Warner, Moon,
Rudder, Carringer, Littleton, Wright, McCalmon, Howell, Crawford, Powers, Bricken,
Eldridge, Rudd, Harris, Hardaway, Davis, Faison, Reneau, Hawk, Alexander
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 938
By Senators Rose, Haile, Walley, Campbell, Akbari, Oliver, Seal
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 8, relative to
leave for state employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-813(a), is amended by inserting
the language "because the employee becomes the foster parent of a minor child," after the
language "adoption," in the first sentence; and further amend by inserting the language "foster
placement," immediately after the language "adoption," in the second sentence.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-813, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
U) An employee who becomes the foster parent of a minor child shall not
continue to utilize leave granted under subsection (a) once the minor child is no longer
placed in the foster parent's home or custody.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-813(d), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting:
(d) An eligible employee must not be granted more than six (6) workweeks of
paid leave under subsection (a) during a twelve-month period, but the workweeks do not
need to be taken consecutively. Leave granted under subsection (a) may be taken on a
reduced schedule or intermittently as provided under 29 U.S.C. § 2612 of the federal
Family and Medical Leave Act. An eligible employee may receive no more than six (6)
workweeks of paid leave during a twelve-month period, even if there is more than one
(1) qualifying birth, adoption, foster placement, or family member's serious health
condition under subsection (a). If an eligible employee uses only a fraction of the leave
granted under subsection (a), then the eligible employee may use the remaining balance
of leave for any qualifying birth, adoption, foster placement, or a family member's serious
health condition that occurs within the same twelve-month period. Leave granted
pursuant to this section for a qualifying birth, adoption, or foster placement must be used
within twelve (12) months of the qualifying birth; adoption, or foster placement.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-50-813(e)(1), is amended by
adding the following new subdivision:
( ) "Foster parent" means a person with whom a child in the care, custody, or
guardianship of the department of children's services is placed for foster care, but does
not include a person with whom a child is placed for the purposes of respite or adoption.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect January 1, 2027, the public welfare requiring it.
HOUSE BILL NO. 957
PASSED: March 9, 2026
CA~SEXTON,SPEAKER
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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\ RANDY MCN~LLY
SPEAKER OF THE SENATE
APPROVED this a(,,tJ. day of YV)cu{( ~ 2026
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