---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, requires certain employers with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to grant exemptions based on medical reason or religious reason; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 14."
description: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, requires certain employers with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to grant exemptions based on medical reason or religious reason; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 14."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1823"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1823 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Employees", "Employers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Johnson", "Zachary"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 44
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2022-01-19"
last_action: "2022-03-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0ec287bf-f781-4db7-bdb3-d09fb9f8f56a"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1823&GA=112"
source_hash: "dc5ea141515101a9140ec8b105e7843a7b67565d496b229ded649460f4c0150f"
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 SB 1823 (112) — Employees, Employers - As enacted, requires certain employers with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to grant exemptions based on medical reason or religious reason; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 14.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0498** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0498.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0484** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0484.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB1823.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 2/24/2022 Passed (1) — **64–18** (pass) · lower
- SENATE COMMERCE AND LABOR COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/15/2022 Passed — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/15/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Commerce Committee 2/9/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 2/24/2022 Passed (1) — **26–5** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 2/1/2022 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 2/24/2022 2/17/2022 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Johnson — primary (person)
- Zachary — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-19** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-20** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-20** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-01-20** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-01-24** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-01-24** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee -- Commerce Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-26** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee
- **2022-01-26** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 2/1/2022
- **2022-01-26** Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-01-31** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-01** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-02** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-02** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 2/9/2022
- **2022-02-03** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-03** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-07** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-09** Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 2/15/2022
- **2022-02-09** Placed on cal. Commerce Committee for 2/15/2022
- **2022-02-09** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Commerce Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-15** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 1 PNV 0
- **2022-02-15** Rec. for pass, ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-16** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/17/2022
- **2022-02-17** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 2/24/2022
- **2022-02-22** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 2/24/2022
- **2022-02-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-24** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-24** Passed H., Ayes 64, Nays 18, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2022-02-24** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0498) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2022-02-24** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2022-02-24** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2022-02-24** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 26, Nays 5 `passage`
- **2022-02-24** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0484)
- **2022-02-24** Comp. SB subst.
- **2022-02-24** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-02-28** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-02-28** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2022-03-01** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-02** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2022-03-11** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-03-15** Effective date(s) 03/11/2022
- **2022-03-15** Pub. Ch. 644
- **2022-03-15** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 644

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0ec287bf-f781-4db7-bdb3-d09fb9f8f56a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).