50-2-201. Definitions.

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires: 

(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and workforce development; 

(2) "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work; 

(3) "Employee" means any individual employed by any employer within the state of Tennessee, including individuals employed by the state of Tennessee but not by its political subdivisions, but does not include any individual who is entitled to the equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), as amended; 

(4) "Employer" includes any person acting in the interest of any employer, directly or indirectly, and includes the state of Tennessee but not its political subdivisions; and 

(5) "Wage rate" means all compensation for employment, including payments in kind and amounts paid by employers for employee benefits as defined by the commissioner in regulations issued under this part. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 1; T.C.A., § 50-320; Acts 1999, ch. 520, § 41.]

50-2-202. Prohibited acts.

(a)  No employer shall discriminate between employees in the same establishment on the basis of sex by paying any employee salary or wage rates less than the rates such employer pays to any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work on jobs the performance of which require comparable skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions. However, nothing in this part shall prohibit wage differentials based on a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earnings by quality or quantity of production, or any other reasonable differential that is based on a factor other than sex. 

(b)  An employer who is paying a wage differential in violation of this part shall not, in order to comply with this part, reduce the wage rate of any employee. 

(c)  No employer may discharge or discriminate against any employee by reason of any action taken by such employee to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement of this part. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 2; T.C.A., § 50-321.]

50-2-203. Commissioner to administer law.

(a)  The commissioner has the power and duty to carry out and administer the provisions of this part, including the power to issue such regulations, not inconsistent with the purpose of this part, as the commissioner considers necessary or appropriate to carry out its provisions. 

(b)  The commissioner is authorized to endeavor to eliminate pay practices unlawful under this part by informal methods of conference, conciliation and persuasion, and to supervise the payment of wages owing to any employee under this part. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 3; T.C.A., § 50-322.]

50-2-204. Employee remedies.

(a)  Any employer who violates the provisions of § 50-2-202 shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid wages, and in instances of an employer knowingly violating § 50-2-202 in employee suits under subsection (b), up to an additional equal amount of unpaid wages as liquidated damages. For the second established violation of this part in a separate judicial proceeding distinct from the first, any employer who violates the provisions of § 50-2-202 shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid wages, and instances of an employer knowingly violating § 50-2-202 in employee suits under subsection (b), up to an additional two (2) times the amount of unpaid wages as liquidated damages. For the third established violation of this part in a separate judicial proceeding distinct from the first and second, any employer who violates the provisions of § 50-2-202 shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid wages, and instances of an employer knowingly violating § 50-2-202 in employee suits under subsection (b), up to an additional three (3) times the amount of unpaid wages as liquidated damages. 

(b)  Action to recover such wages may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one (1) or more employees. The court shall, in cases of violation, in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney's fee and cost of the action to be paid by the defendant. 

(c)  No agreement by any such employee to work for less than the wages to which the employee is entitled under this part shall be a bar to any such action, or to a voluntary wage restitution of the full amount due under this part. 

(d)  At the written request of any employee claiming to have been paid less than the wage to which the employee is entitled under this part, the commissioner may bring any legal action necessary in behalf of the employee to collect such claim for unpaid wages. The commissioner shall not be required to pay any filing fee, or other cost in connection with such action. The commissioner shall have the power to join various claims against the employer in one (1) cause of action. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 4; T.C.A., § 50-323; Acts 2004, ch. 822, § 2.]

50-2-205. Limitation of actions.

Court action under this part may be commenced no later than two (2) years after the cause of action occurs. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 5; T.C.A., § 50-324.]

50-2-206. Penalty.

Any employer who violates any provisions of this part, or who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because such employee has made a complaint to that employee's employer, the commissioner, or any other person, or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceedings under or related to this part, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, commits a Class A misdemeanor. 

[Acts 1974, ch. 757, § 6; T.C.A., § 50-325; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 111.]

50-2-207. Research on wage disparities.

(a)  Commencing on June 7, 2004, and as funds become available, the Economic Council on Women may conduct research to determine: 

(1) What wage disparities exist between men and women assigned to the same job classifications and minorities and non-minorities assigned to the same job classifications; 

(2) Those factors that cause, or that tend to cause, such disparities, including segregation of women and men, and of minorities and non-minorities within the same job classifications; 

(3) The consequences of such disparities on the economy and on affected families; and 

(4) Recommendations that are likely to lead to the elimination of such disparities. 

(b)  The council shall make its report to the commissioner of labor and workforce development, who may in turn transmit it to the governor and the speakers of both houses of the general assembly. 

(c)  The council's research may include the results of its findings as well as recommendations, legislative and otherwise, for the elimination and prevention of disparities in wages between men and women, and between minorities and non-minorities. 

[Acts 2004, ch. 822, § 3.]