8-38-125 - Sick payments on account of illness or accident disability to an employee. - Tennessee Statutes

8-38-125. Sick payments on account of illness or accident disability to an employee.

Sick payments on account of illness or accident disability means any payment made to an employee on account of sickness or accident disability of the type outlined in § 209(b) and (d) of the Social Security Act, as amended, and may be excluded from wages subject to the following terms and conditions:

     (1)  Payments made under the authority of chapter 50, part 8 of this title and §§ 49-5-701, 49-5-707, and 49-5-710 on account of sickness or accident disability of an employee shall be paid from a separate account designated as a sick pay account or, in the alternative, shall be accounted for separately from salaries and wages throughout the state's payment and accounting procedures indicating that such payments are not treated as a continuation of salaries;

     (2)  The amount of payment or payments made to an employee on account of sickness or accident disability shall be based on such employee's rate of compensation being received at the time such payments are approved by the employer. The employer may require that a physician's or an accredited Christian Science practitioner's certificate be furnished by the employee in all cases, if deemed appropriate by such employer;

     (3)  Each department or instrumentality of state government shall set up and maintain accurate books or accounts sufficient to carry out the intent of this section and to adequately protect the state's interest against malingering and false claims of illness; and

     (4)  It is not the intent of this section, former § 8-38-108(d), or the 1980 amendment of § 8-38-101(8) to substantially reduce any retirement or disability benefits to which state employees may be entitled.

[Acts 1980, ch. 774, §§ 3, 4; Acts 1981, ch. 360, § 1.]