Chapter Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Employer and Employee
  4. Drug-Free Workplace Programs
  5. Chapter Definitions

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

  1. “Alcohol” has the same meaning in this chapter when used in the federal regulations describing the procedures used for testing of alcohol by programs operating pursuant to the authority of the United States department of transportation, currently compiled at 49 CFR part 40. It is intended that the definition shall change as the department of transportation's regulations are revised;
  2. “Alcohol test” means an analysis of breath, or blood, or any other analysis that determines the presence and level or absence of alcohol as authorized by the United States department of transportation in its rules and guidelines concerning alcohol testing and drug testing;
  3. “Chain of custody” refers to the methodology of tracking specified materials or substances for the purpose of maintaining control and accountability from initial collection to final disposition for all such materials or substances, and providing for accountability at each stage in handling, testing and storing specimens and reporting test results;
  4. “Confirmation test,” “confirmed test” or “confirmed drug or alcohol test” means a second analytical procedure used to identify the presence of a specific drug or alcohol or metabolite in a specimen, which test must be different in scientific principle from that of the initial test procedure and must be capable of providing requisite specificity, sensitivity and quantitative accuracy;
  5. “Covered employer” means a person or entity that employs a person, is covered by the Workers' Compensation Law, compiled in chapter 6 of this title, maintains a drug-free workplace pursuant to this chapter and includes on the posting required by § 50-9-105 a specific statement that the policy is being implemented pursuant to this chapter. This chapter shall have no effect on employers who do not meet this definition;
  6. “Drug” means any controlled substance subject to testing pursuant to drug testing regulations adopted by the United States department of transportation. A covered employer shall test an individual for all such drugs in accordance with this chapter. The commissioner of labor and workforce development may add additional drugs by rule in accordance with § 50-9-111;
  7. “Drug or alcohol rehabilitation program” means a service provider that provides confidential, timely and expert identification, assessment and resolution of employee drug or alcohol abuse;
  8. “Drug test” or “test” means any chemical, biological or physical instrumental analysis administered by a laboratory authorized to do so pursuant to this chapter, for the purpose of determining the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites pursuant to regulations governing drug testing adopted by the United States department of transportation or other recognized authority approved by rule by the commissioner of labor and workforce development;
  9. “Employee” means any individual who performs services for a covered employer for wages if the services performed by the individual qualify as an employer-employee relationship with the employer based upon consideration of the following twenty (20) factors as described in the twenty-factor test of Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 87-41, 1987-1 C.B. 296:
    1. Instructions.   A worker who is required to comply with other persons' instructions about when, where, and how the worker is to work is ordinarily an employee. This control factor is present if the person or persons for whom the services are performed have the right to require compliance with instructions;
    2. Training.   Training a worker by requiring an experienced employee to work with the worker, by corresponding with the worker, by requiring the worker to attend meetings, or by using other methods indicates that the person or persons for whom the services are performed want the services performed in a particular method or manner;
    3. Integration.   Integration of the worker's services into the business operations generally shows that the worker is subject to direction and control. When the success or continuation of a business depends to an appreciable degree upon the performance of certain services, the workers who perform those services must necessarily be subject to a certain amount of control by the owner of the business;
    4. Services rendered personally.   If the services must be rendered personally, then presumably the persons for whom the services are performed are interested in the methods used to accomplish the work as well as in the results;
    5. Hiring, supervising, and paying assistants.   If the person or persons for whom the services are performed hire, supervise, and pay assistants, then that factor generally shows control over the workers on the job. However, if one (1) worker hires, supervises, and pays the other assistants pursuant to a contract under which the worker agrees to provide materials and labor and under which the worker is responsible only for the attainment of a result, then this factor indicates an independent contractor status;
    6. Continuing relationship.   A continuing relationship between the worker and the person or persons for whom the services are performed indicates that an employer-employee relationship exists. A continuing relationship may exist where work is performed at frequently recurring although irregular intervals;
    7. Set hours of work.   The establishment of set hours of work by the person or persons for whom the services are performed is a factor indicating control;
    8. Full time required.   If the worker must devote substantially full time to the business of the person or persons for whom the services are performed, then the person or persons have control over the amount of time the worker spends working and impliedly restrict the worker from doing other gainful work. An independent contractor is free to work when and for whom the independent contractor chooses;
    9. Doing work on employer's premises.   If the work is performed on the premises of the person or persons for whom the services are performed, then that factor suggests control over the worker, especially if the work could be done elsewhere. Work done off the premises of the person or persons receiving the services, such as at the office of the worker, indicates some freedom from control. However, this fact by itself does not mean that the worker is not an employee. The importance of this factor depends on the nature of the service involved and the extent to which an employer generally would require that employees perform those services on the employer's premises. Control over the place of work is indicated when the person or persons for whom the services are performed have the right to compel the worker to travel a designated route, to canvass territory within a certain time, or to work at specific places as required;
    10. Order or sequence set.   If a worker must perform services in the order or sequence set by the person or persons for whom the services are performed, then that factor shows that the worker is not free to follow the worker's own pattern of work but instead must follow the established routines and schedules of the person or persons for whom the services are performed. Often, because of the nature of an occupation, the person or persons for whom the services are performed do not set the order of the services or set the order infrequently. It is sufficient to show control, however, if the person or persons retain the right to do so;
    11. Oral or written reports.   A requirement that the worker submit regular or written reports to the person or persons for whom the services are performed indicates a degree of control;
    12. Payment by hour, week, month.   Payment by the hour, week, or month generally points to an employer-employee relationship; provided, that this method of payment is not just a convenient way of paying a lump sum agreed upon as the cost of a job. Payment made by the job or on straight commission generally indicates the worker is an independent contractor;
    13. Payment of business or traveling expenses.   If the person or persons for whom the services are performed ordinarily pay the worker's business or traveling expenses, then the worker is ordinarily an employee. An employer, to be able to control expenses, generally retains the right to regulate and direct the worker's business activities;
    14. Furnishing of tools and materials.   The fact that the person or persons for whom the services are performed furnish significant tools, materials, and other equipment tends to show the existence of an employer-employee relationship;
    15. Significant investment.   If the worker invests in facilities that are used by the worker in performing services and are not typically maintained by employees, such as the maintenance of an office rented at fair value from an unrelated party, then that factor tends to indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. However, lack of investment in facilities indicates dependence on the person or persons for whom the services are performed for the facilities and the existence of an employer-employee relationship;
    16. Realization of profit or loss.   A worker who can realize a profit or suffer a loss as a result of the worker's services, in addition to the profit or loss ordinarily realized by employees, is generally an independent contractor but the worker who cannot is an employee. For example, if the worker is subject to a real risk of economic loss due to significant investments or a bona fide liability for expenses, such as salary payments to unrelated employees, then that factor indicates that the worker is an independent contractor. The risk that a worker will not receive payment for the worker's services is common to both independent contractors and employees and does not constitute sufficient economic risk to support treatment as an independent contractor;
    17. Working for more than one firm at a time.   If a worker performs more than de minimis services for multiple unrelated persons or firms at the same time, then that factor generally indicates that the worker is an independent contractor. However, a worker who performs services for more than one (1) person may be an employee of each of the persons, especially where such persons are part of the same service arrangement;
    18. Making service available to general public.   The fact that a worker makes the worker's services available to the general public on a regular and consistent basis indicates an independent contractor relationship;
    19. Right to discharge.   The right to discharge a worker is a factor indicating that the worker is an employee and the person possessing the right is an employer. An employer exercises control through the threat of dismissal, which causes the worker to obey the employer's instructions. An independent contractor cannot be fired so long as the independent contractor produces a result that meets the contract specifications; and
    20. Right to terminate.   If the worker has the right to end the worker's relationship with the person for whom the services are performed at any time the worker wishes without incurring liability, then that factor indicates an employer-employee relationship;
  10. “Employee assistance program” means an established program capable of providing expert assessment of employee personal concerns; confidential and timely identification services with regard to employee drug or alcohol abuse; referrals of employees for appropriate diagnosis, treatment and assistance; and follow-up services for employees who participate in the program or require monitoring after returning to work. If, in addition to those activities, an employee assistance program provides diagnostic and treatment services, these services shall in all cases be provided by the program;
  11. “Employer” means a person or entity that employs a person and that is covered by the Workers' Compensation Law, compiled in chapter 6 of this title;
  12. “Initial drug or alcohol test” means a procedure that qualifies as a “screening test” or “initial test” pursuant to regulations governing drug or alcohol testing adopted by the United States department of transportation or other recognized authority approved by rule by the administrator of the bureau of workers' compensation;
  13. “Job applicant” means a person who has applied for a position with a covered employer and who has been offered employment conditioned upon successfully passing a drug or alcohol test, and may have begun work pending the results of the drug or alcohol test;
  14. “Medical review officer” or “MRO” means a licensed physician, employed with or contracted with a covered employer, who has knowledge of substance abuse disorders, laboratory testing procedures and chain of custody collection procedures; who verifies positive, confirmed test results; and who has the necessary medical training to interpret and evaluate an employee's positive test result in relation to the employee's medical history or any other relevant biomedical information;
  15. “Reasonable-suspicion drug testing” means drug or alcohol testing based on a belief that an employee is using or has used drugs or alcohol in violation of the covered employer's policy drawn from specific objective and articulable facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in light of experience. Among other things, the facts and inferences may be based upon:
    1. Observable phenomena while at work, such as direct observation of drug or alcohol use or of the physical symptoms or manifestations of being under the influence of a drug or alcohol;
    2. Abnormal conduct or erratic behavior while at work or a significant deterioration in work performance;
    3. A report of drug or alcohol use, provided by a reliable and credible source;
    4. Evidence that an individual has tampered with a drug or alcohol test during employment with the current covered employer;
    5. Information that an employee has caused, contributed to or been involved in an accident while at work; or
    6. Evidence that an employee has used, possessed, sold, solicited or transferred drugs or used alcohol while working or while on the covered employer's premises or while operating the covered employer's vehicle, machinery or equipment;
    1. “Safety-sensitive position” means a position involving a safety-sensitive function pursuant to regulations governing drug or alcohol testing adopted by the United States department of transportation. For drug-free workplaces, the commissioner is authorized, with the approval of the advisory council on workers' compensation, to promulgate rules expanding the scope of safety-sensitive position to cases where impairment may present a clear and present risk to co-workers or other persons;
    2. “Safety-sensitive position” means, with respect to any employer, a position in which a drug or alcohol impairment constitutes an immediate and direct threat to public health or safety, such as a position that requires the employee to carry a firearm, perform life-threatening procedures, work with confidential information or documents pertaining to criminal investigations or work with controlled substances; or a position in which a momentary lapse in attention could result in injury or death to another person; and
  17. “Specimen” means tissue, fluid or a product of the human body capable of revealing the presence of alcohol or drugs or their metabolites.


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