June 2022: Tennessee State Passes Law for Veteran Holiday

Update Applicable to:
All businesses that employ at least one person in the state of Tennessee.

What happened?
On April 7, 2022, Governor Lee House Bill 2733 (HB 2733) into law, which will provide U.S military veterans a guaranteed right to take an unpaid day off from work for Veteran’s Day.

What are the details?
Effective immediately, any business that employs at least one employee must provide an unpaid day off every November 11 for employees who are U.S military veterans and provide the employer with:

• at least one month’s written notice of the requested time off, and
• proof of their veteran status. 

The only exceptions to the required day off are if the veteran’s absence would impact public health or safety, or if the time off would cause the employer significant economic or operational disruption. 

“Veterans” are defined in the new law as former members of the U.S. armed forces and former or current members of a reserve, or a Tennessee National Guard unit called into active military service of the U.S. The statute does not include independent contractors as workers entitled to this benefit.

For more information, please see the links below:

House Bill 2733 (HB 2733)

Article

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above, update their holiday policy to include information about this benefit, and provide an unpaid day off for veteran employees who provide the required information.