---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, adds private employers to the types of employers subject to the requirements of the Healthy Workplace Act; clarifies that the Healthy Workplace Act does not create a cause of action against an employer who does not adopt the model policy created by TACIR or adopt a policy that conforms to the requirements set out in TACIR'S policy. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 1."
description: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, adds private employers to the types of employers subject to the requirements of the Healthy Workplace Act; clarifies that the Healthy Workplace Act does not create a cause of action against an employer who does not adopt the model policy created by TACIR or adopt a policy that conforms to the requirements set out in TACIR'S policy. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 1."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "HB 856"
citation: "Tennessee HB 856 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Employees", "Employers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Akbari", "Parkinson"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 34
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-02-05"
last_action: "2019-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2d41d47c-12fa-4ace-a066-36cc19edfd62"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0856&GA=111"
source_hash: "38338c3e0e239e1f7a12a986d28082e770855ecc671897893980498aff723c4c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee HB 856 (111) — Employees, Employers - As enacted, adds private employers to the types of employers subject to the requirements of the Healthy Workplace Act; clarifies that the Healthy Workplace Act does not create a cause of action against an employer who does not adopt the model policy created by TACIR or adopt a policy that conforms to the requirements set out in TACIR'S policy. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 1.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment HA0092** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0092.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0243** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0243.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/HB0856.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CONSUMER AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/18/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE COMMERCE AND LABOR COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0 4/2/2019 Passed (2) — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 4/8/2019 Passed (1) — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/25/2019 3/21/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/25/2019 Passed (1) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE EMPLOYEE AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee 3/12/2019 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Akbari — primary (person)
- Parkinson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** P2C, ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-07** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-11** Assigned to s/c Employee Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee
- **2019-02-27** Placed on s/c cal Employee Affairs Subcommittee for 3/5/2019
- **2019-03-05** Action Def. in s/c Employee Affairs Subcommittee to 3/12/2019
- **2019-03-06** Placed on s/c cal Employee Affairs Subcommittee for 3/12/2019
- **2019-03-12** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-13** Placed on cal. Consumer and Human Resources Committee for 3/18/2019
- **2019-03-18** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-20** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/21/2019
- **2019-03-21** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/25/2019
- **2019-03-25** Passed H., as am., Ayes 95, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-03-25** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0092) `amendment-passage`
- **2019-03-26** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2019-03-26** Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 4/2/2019
- **2019-03-28** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-04-02** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2019-04-04** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/8/2019
- **2019-04-08** Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-08** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0243)
- **2019-04-08** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2019-04-08** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2019-04-10** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2019-04-11** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-15** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-16** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-23** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-01** Pub. Ch. 214
- **2019-05-01** Effective date(s) 04/23/2019
- **2019-05-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 214

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2d41d47c-12fa-4ace-a066-36cc19edfd62`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).