Hiring Remote Workers in Nashville, Tennessee: A Northern Virginia Employer’s Compliance Guide

By Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Shin Law Office

1. Why NoVA Companies Keep Hiring in Nashville

Nashville runs one of the fastest-growing Sunbelt metros for healthcare, finance, automotive, and emerging tech talent. HCA Healthcare headquarters anchors the largest healthcare provider operation in the country. Nissan North America headquarters sits in Franklin. Bridgestone Americas runs from Nashville. Asurion, the technology-protection services company, is headquartered downtown. Dollar General, Tractor Supply, and LifePoint Health all operate major operations in Tennessee. Amazon’s Nashville operations center is one of the company’s larger non-Seattle hubs. Oracle announced a major Nashville expansion in 2021 that is reshaping the East Bank skyline. The federal contractor footprint is smaller than in DC-adjacent cities but real: Vanderbilt’s research operations, defense health system contractors serving the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and a growing cybersecurity bench.

In my practice, the Nashville remote worker reporting to a Northern Virginia employer is usually a senior software engineer, AI or machine learning engineer, federal cloud architect, security engineer, healthcare or health-tech professional, or business development professional. They live in Nashville neighborhoods like East Nashville, 12 South, Germantown, The Gulch, Sylvan Park, Berry Hill, Hillsboro Village, Green Hills, Belle Meade, or in the surrounding metro (Brentwood, Franklin, Hendersonville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Mt. Juliet). They work entirely from Tennessee for a defense prime in Falls Church, a federal cloud vendor in Reston, a consulting firm with a Tysons office, or a security vendor in Herndon. The W-2 lists a Virginia employer. They rarely set foot in the Tysons office.

Nashville reads as a senior-engineering, healthcare technology, finance, and corporate talent market with a meaningful cost-of-living advantage over the coastal metros and a growth trajectory that has steadily attracted West Coast and Northeast workers. The employment law layer is light: Tennessee is in the reasonableness cluster on non-competes with the friendly blue-pencil rule, has a moderate state-law overlay with a slightly broader-than-federal THRA coverage threshold, and adds no meaningful city-level employment ordinance burden in Nashville. The compliance lift for NoVA employers is comparable to Atlanta and Charlotte.

2. Where Tennessee Sits on the Compliance Map

Let me put Tennessee in context. In the hub guide, I break states into four non-compete groups: outright ban, restrict by rule, reasonableness, and pro-enforcement. Tennessee sits in the reasonableness cluster with two friendly features: courts allow blue-pencil modification of overbroad covenants, and continued employment is adequate consideration for post-hire non-competes (unlike Pennsylvania or North Carolina). Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver, Inc., 671 S.W.2d 471 (Tenn. 1984), is the leading Tennessee Supreme Court case on the reasonableness of non-compete agreements. Subsequent cases, including Vantage Technology, LLC v. Cross, 17 S.W.3d 637 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000), and Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, P.A. v. Udom, 166 S.W.3d 674 (Tenn. 2005), have consistently applied the framework.

Tennessee has a specific statutory framework for physician non-competes at T.C.A. Section 63-1-148. The statute caps physician non-competes at 2 years and 10 miles from the primary practice site or the entire county where the physician primarily practiced, whichever is smaller. For hospitalists and other facility-based physicians, additional carve-outs apply. NoVA employers with Tennessee-based medical or clinical staff should map the statutory framework carefully.

On other axes, Tennessee is moderately protective. The Tennessee Human Rights Act at T.C.A. Section 4-21-101 covers employers with 8 or more workers, a meaningfully lower threshold than federal Title VII’s 15. The THRA prohibits discrimination on race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, and national origin. Tennessee has not added sexual orientation or gender identity to the THRA, but the federal Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), held that Title VII sex discrimination covers sexual orientation and gender identity for employers with 15 or more workers.

The Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA) at T.C.A. Section 50-1-304, commonly called the Tennessee whistleblower statute, protects employees from retaliation for refusing to participate in or remain silent about illegal activities. The TPPA covers private-sector and public-sector employers and provides a private right of action with damages, attorney fees, and (in some cases) punitive damages.

The Tennessee Disability Act at T.C.A. Section 8-50-103 provides parallel ADA-style protection for workers with disabilities. The Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act at T.C.A. Section 50-10-101 (effective October 1, 2020) requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.

The Tennessee Wage Regulation Act at T.C.A. Section 50-2-103 requires wages to be paid on regular paydays. Final wages must be paid by the next regular payday or within 21 days after separation, whichever is later. The Act provides modest penalty exposure and is less punitive than the Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or DC frameworks. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development enforces.

Tennessee E-Verify at T.C.A. Section 50-1-703 requires employers with 50 or more workers to use E-Verify for every new hire. The 50-worker threshold was raised from an earlier 200-worker rule and now applies to many NoVA federal contractors with Tennessee remote workers.

Tennessee is a right-to-work state under T.C.A. Section 50-1-201 et seq. The right-to-work framework affects union organizing more than individual employment claims, but it also affects union security agreements and similar arrangements.

Tennessee has no state pay transparency posting rule, no state salary history ban, no statewide paid sick leave law, no state-level paid family leave program, and no state mini-WARN. Federal FMLA and federal WARN apply at the federal thresholds. The Tennessee Trade Secrets Act at T.C.A. Section 47-25-1701 et seq. provides standard UTSA trade-secret protection.

Compare Nashville to Charlotte. Both are Sunbelt commercial centers with light state-law overlays in the reasonableness cluster on non-competes. The standout differences: TN allows blue-pencil modification while NC applies the strict no-blue-pencil rule, making TN drafting more forgiving; TN’s THRA covers 8-or-more-worker employers while NC’s NCEEPA is mainly a public-policy statement; TN’s wage statute is less punitive than NC’s 2x liquidated damages framework; TN’s TPPA provides a private right of action for whistleblower retaliation while NC’s analogous protection runs through REDA. The overall compliance lift is comparable, with TN’s blue-pencil rule as the meaningful drafting advantage.

For HR teams used to Virginia-style hiring, the move to Nashville is one of the lightest in this series. The non-compete framework is friendly. The wage and discrimination rules require modest policy updates. No pay transparency posting changes. No salary history ban. The compliance lift is light.

The good news is that planning ahead handles most of it. A Tennessee addendum to your standard agreement with a Hasty-compliant non-compete (with appropriate physician statutory limits if applicable), customer non-solicit and confidentiality language, a federal-floor offer letter, a wage-payment protocol matched to the Wage Regulation Act, TN E-Verify enrollment for 50-or-more-worker employers, THRA-aware harassment and investigation procedures, and TPPA-aware separation and discipline protocols cover most of the exposure.

3. Forum Selection and Choice of Law in Tennessee

Tennessee does not have an anti-forum statute for non-competes. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses do real work in Tennessee across most employment claims.

Forum selection. Tennessee courts enforce forum-selection clauses under M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court, and Tennessee common law (Dyersburg Machine Works, Inc. v. Rentenbach Engineering Co., 650 S.W.2d 378 (Tenn. 1983)). A Virginia forum clause in your employment agreement is generally enforced absent a showing of unreasonableness, fraud, or overreaching.

Choice of law. Tennessee applies the most significant relationship test of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws Section 188 to contract claims. For employment contracts negotiated and signed in Virginia for a worker who later relocated to Tennessee, Virginia law generally applies to the contract itself. For statutory claims under Tennessee law (THRA, TPPA, Tennessee Disability Act, Wage Regulation Act, TN E-Verify), Tennessee law applies regardless of contract language.

Physician non-compete choice-of-law. The Tennessee physician non-compete statute at T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 represents strong Tennessee public policy that may override a chosen state’s law. NoVA employers with Tennessee-based physicians should expect TN law to apply to the physician covenant, regardless of the contract’s choice-of-law clauses.

Federal court jurisdiction. The Middle District of Tennessee (federal, Nashville) handles non-trivial employment disputes involving Nashville workers. The Eastern District covers Knoxville and Chattanooga; the Western District covers Memphis. State court is the Davidson County Circuit Court for Nashville.

Practical takeaway. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses generally hold in Tennessee for non-compete, customer nonsolicit, and confidentiality enforcement, and for general contract disputes. For THRA, TPPA, Tennessee Disability Act, Wage Regulation Act, and TN E-Verify claims, Tennessee law applies regardless of contract language. For physician non-competes, Tennessee statutory law applies regardless of contract choice. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes and non-compete enforcement with a Virginia forum clause involving a Nashville worker.

4. Non-Competes in Tennessee: Hasty Reasonableness with Blue-Pencil

Tennessee non-compete law runs on common-law reasonableness analysis with a friendlier drafting framework than North Carolina. The Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver decision (1984) articulates the reasonableness test, and subsequent cases have confirmed TN courts’ authority to blue-pencil overbroad covenants.

The reasonableness test. Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver, Inc., 671 S.W.2d 471 (Tenn. 1984), articulates a multi-factor reasonableness analysis: the covenant must (1) protect a legitimate business interest of the employer, (2) be reasonable in time, (3) be reasonable in geographic scope, (4) be reasonable in scope of activity, and (5) not be against public policy. Tennessee courts evaluate the factors as an integrated whole.

Legitimate business interests. Tennessee recognizes trade secrets, confidential business information, customer goodwill, customer relationships, and specialized training as legitimate business interests. Vantage Technology, LLC v. Cross, 17 S.W.3d 637 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000), and subsequent cases have consistently applied the legitimate interest analysis.

Reasonable in time. 1-year durations are routinely enforced. 2-year durations are enforceable when tied to a legitimate interest. 3-year and longer durations face increasing scrutiny.

Reasonable in geographic scope. The geographic limit must be tied to where the employer actually does business or where the worker actually provided services. National or worldwide non-competes face heightened scrutiny absent a showing that the employer operates nationwide or worldwide and that the worker provided services nationwide or worldwide.

The blue-pencil rule. Tennessee courts have the authority to blue-pencil overbroad covenants. The court may modify the covenant to make it reasonable rather than voiding it entirely. Central Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Ingram, 678 S.W.2d 28 (Tenn. 1984), and subsequent cases have applied the blue-pencil approach. This is a meaningful drafting advantage over North Carolina’s strict no-blue-pencil rule: a TN court can preserve an enforceable covenant even where some component is overbroad. Drafters still aim for an enforceable scope, but the safety net is broader.

Adequate consideration. Continued employment is adequate consideration for a post-hire non-compete in Tennessee. Central Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Ingram, 678 S.W.2d 28 (Tenn. 1984), confirmed the rule. This is the same rule as Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Arizona, and differs from the Maintenance Specialties rule in Pennsylvania and the James C. Greene rule in North Carolina. Your standard NoVA template’s consideration recital works in Tennessee without modification.

Customer non-solicits. Customers who are not solicited face the same hasty analysis. 1 to 2 year durations tied to actual customer relationships are commonly enforceable.

Employee non-solicits. Employee non-solicits face the same analysis. 1 to 2 year durations are commonly enforceable.

Confidentiality and trade-secret covenants. Trade-secret protection runs indefinitely under the Tennessee Trade Secrets Act at T.C.A. Section 47-25-1701 et seq. Confidentiality covenants for non-trade-secret confidential information run for a reasonable post-employment period.

The physician non-compete statute. T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 imposes specific limits on physician non-competes: the covenant cannot exceed 2 years in duration; the geographic scope cannot exceed 10 miles from the physician’s primary practice site OR the boundaries of the county where the physician primarily practiced, whichever is smaller. Specific carve-outs apply to physicians employed by hospitals and to physicians practicing in counties with fewer than 75,000 residents. Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, P.A. v. Udom, 166 S.W.3d 674 (Tenn. 2005), confirmed that the statutory framework controls. NoVA employers with Tennessee-based physicians or medical practitioners should carefully map the statutory limits.

No statutory thresholds or notice requirements for non-physician workers. Unlike the protective restrict-by-rule states (Washington, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, DC), Tennessee does not impose a compensation threshold or procedural notice requirement on non-physician non-competes. The analysis is common-law reasonableness with the blue-pencil safety net.

5. Wage and Hour: The Wage Regulation Act and Final Pay

Tennessee wage and hour combines the Tennessee Wage Regulation Act, the federal FLSA, and the right-to-work framework. The state-law overlay is light and the compliance burden is modest.

Tennessee Wage Regulation Act. T.C.A. Section 50-2-103 requires payment of wages on regular paydays at intervals not less than monthly. Final wages must be paid by the next regular payday or within 21 days after separation, whichever is later. The 21-day backstop is one of the more forgiving final-pay rules in the country (compared to DC’s 7-working-day rule or Oregon’s same-day rule for involuntary terminations). The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development enforces administrative claims; workers have a private right of action in state court.

Wages includes earned compensation. The Wage Regulation Act treats wages as including base salary, earned commissions, and earned bonuses. Accrued vacation is treated as wages only if the employer’s policy or contract clearly provides for accrual and payout. Tennessee courts have generally enforced clearly disclosed use-it-or-lose-it policies and no-payout-on-separation policies when communicated in advance.

Wage notice requirements. Tennessee does not have a comprehensive wage-notice-at-hire statute equivalent to New York Labor Law Section 195 or Minnesota Section 181.032. Generally accepted practice is to include wage information in the offer letter and employee handbook.

Tennessee minimum wage. Tennessee has no state minimum wage statute. The federal FLSA minimum of $7.25 per hour applies. Tennessee state law preempts local minimum wage ordinances.

Overtime. Tennessee follows federal FLSA: time-and-a-half for hours over 40 per week. Tennessee has no daily overtime rule. The exempt salary threshold tracks federal FLSA.

No statewide paid sick leave. Tennessee has no statewide paid sick leave law. Local paid sick leave ordinances are preempted by Tennessee state law.

No state paid family leave. Tennessee has no Paid Family Leave program. Federal FMLA at 29 USC Section 2601 applies for employers with 50 or more workers within a 75-mile radius.

Tennessee E-Verify. T.C.A. Section 50-1-703 requires employers with 50 or more workers to use E-Verify for every new hire. The 50-worker threshold was raised from an earlier 200-worker requirement in 2022. NoVA employers with 50 or more workers nationwide must build E-Verify into their TN onboarding workflow.

Workers’ Compensation. The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Act at T.C.A. Section 50-6-101 covers Tennessee-based workers. NoVA employers with Tennessee workers must register and maintain coverage through a Tennessee-licensed carrier.

No state mini-WARN. Federal WARN at 29 USC Section 2101 applies. Tennessee has no state mini-WARN equivalent.

Right-to-work. Tennessee is a right-to-work state under T.C.A. Section 50-1-201 et seq. The framework affects union security agreements but rarely affects individual NoVA federal contractor workforces directly.

6. Discrimination: THRA, TDA, and the Public Protection Act

Tennessee discrimination law runs through the Tennessee Human Rights Act, the Tennessee Disability Act, the Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and the Tennessee Public Protection Act. The THRA covers more employers than federal Title VII and provides a meaningful state-law remedy.

The THRA coverage threshold. T.C.A. Section 4-21-102 covers employers with 8 or more workers, a meaningfully lower threshold than federal Title VII’s 15. An 8-person Reston startup with one Nashville remote worker has full THRA exposure but is not yet subject to federal Title VII.

The protected categories. T.C.A. Section 4-21-401 prohibits discrimination on race, creed, color, religion, sex, age (40 and over), and national origin. Tennessee has not added sexual orientation or gender identity as separate protected categories. Federal Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), interprets Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to cover sexual orientation and gender identity for employers with 15 or more workers, providing federal protection at and above the federal threshold.

The damages framework. THRA damages include back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, and attorney fees. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 4-21-313 caps compensatory and punitive damages on a sliding scale based on employer size, with the caps mirroring federal Title VII’s damages framework. Most plaintiffs pursuing serious discrimination claims also bring parallel federal Title VII or ADA claims.

The filing deadline. A worker has 180 days to file a charge with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, or 300 days if also covered by federal Title VII. Alternatively, the worker may sue in chancery or circuit court within 1 year of the alleged discriminatory act.

The Tennessee Disability Act. T.C.A. Section 8-50-103 provides parallel ADA-style protection for workers with disabilities. The TDA covers all Tennessee employers (no minimum size threshold), a broader coverage than federal ADA’s 15-worker threshold.

The Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. T.C.A. Section 50-10-101 (effective October 1, 2020) requires employers with 15 or more workers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. The Tennessee PWFA preceded the federal PWFA (effective June 2023). Both apply for employers covered by both.

The Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA). T.C.A. Section 50-1-304, commonly called the Tennessee whistleblower statute, protects employees who refuse to participate in or remain silent about illegal activities. The TPPA covers private-sector and public-sector employers and provides a private right of action with damages, attorney fees, and (in some cases) punitive damages. The TPPA is one of the more meaningful state-law protections for private-sector workers in Tennessee.

Retaliatory discharge. Tennessee recognizes a common-law retaliatory discharge tort under Clanton v. Cain-Sloan Co., 677 S.W.2d 441 (Tenn. 1984), protecting workers terminated for exercising statutorily-protected rights (filing workers’ compensation claims, reporting illegal activity, and similar). The TPPA largely codifies and expands the common-law tort.

NDA restrictions. Tennessee does not have a Silenced No More-style statutory restriction on NDAs in harassment settlements. The federal Speak Out Act at Pub. L. No. 117-224 and the federal FAIR Act at Pub. L. No. 117-90 apply. Severance NDA templates require carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies and to file with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission.

Nashville ordinance overlay. Nashville and other Tennessee localities have minimal employment ordinance overlay. Tennessee state law preempts most local labor and employment ordinances, including local minimum wage, paid sick leave, fair chance hiring, and salary history bans.

7. Pay Transparency: No State Posting Rule

Tennessee has no state pay transparency posting law and no state salary history ban. A Nashville-only job posting is not required to disclose a salary range under Tennessee law.

No state posting rule. A Tennessee-only job posting can omit a salary range. Remote postings open to workers in California, Washington, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, or DC may trigger their disclosure rules. Most NoVA employers I work with adopt a universal disclosure approach across all remote postings to simplify administration.

No state salary history ban. Tennessee does not prohibit salary history inquiries as a matter of state law. NoVA employers can ask Tennessee applicants about prior compensation as a matter of state law, though federal EEOC pay equity guidance recommends avoiding salary history in compensation-setting.

Pay equity exposure. The federal Equal Pay Act at 29 USC Section 206(d) applies to all Tennessee employers. Federal Title VII applies at 15 workers; the THRA at 8 workers. Tennessee has no state-level pay equity statute with a safe-harbor framework like Oregon or California. Periodic pay-equity analyses are sensible practice across all states.

8. Termination, Final Pay, and Severance in Tennessee

Tennessee is at will under common law, with statutory and common-law exceptions. The exceptions are the federal civil rights statutes, the THRA, the Tennessee Disability Act, the Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Tennessee Public Protection Act, the federal whistleblower statutes, and the Clanton v. Cain-Sloan retaliatory discharge tort.

Final pay timing. T.C.A. Section 50-2-103 requires final wages to be paid by the next regular payday or within 21 days after separation, whichever is later. The 21-day backstop is one of the more forgiving final-pay rules in the country.

Accrued vacation. Tennessee does not treat accrued vacation as wages under state law. A clear use-it-or-lose-it policy is enforceable. A clear no-payout policy is enforceable if communicated in advance. The Wage Regulation Act applies only to wages, and Tennessee courts have held that accrued vacation is not a wage absent a clear policy provision.

Severance releases. Federal OWBPA controls ADEA waivers federally. Tennessee has narrower NDA restrictions than California or New York. The federal Speak Out Act and FAIR Act apply, limiting predispute NDAs for sexual-harassment and sexual-assault claims and predispute arbitration for those same claims. Severance NDA templates require carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies and to file with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

No state mini-WARN. Federal WARN applies. Tennessee has no state mini-WARN equivalent.

Constructive discharge. Tennessee courts apply a constructive discharge standard requiring intolerable working conditions that would compel a reasonable person to leave.

The Clanton retaliatory discharge tort. Clanton v. Cain-Sloan Co., 677 S.W.2d 441 (Tenn. 1984), recognized a common-law retaliatory discharge tort protecting at-will workers terminated for exercising a statutorily-protected right or refusing to violate the law. The tort overlaps with the TPPA statutory framework and federal whistleblower statutes.

Restrictive covenant survival post-termination. Standard Hasty reasonableness applies. The blue-pencil rule provides a safety net for overbroad components. For physician non-competes, T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 statutory limits apply regardless of termination type.

9. How I Draft Contracts for Your Nashville Workers

For your Nashville-based workers, the master employment agreement plus state addendum structure applies. The Tennessee addendum is among the shortest in this series because the state-law overlay is light, but the physician non-compete statute requires special attention for any medical or clinical staff.

Non-compete drafting for non-physician workers. Draft to the Hasty four-factor test. Identify a specific legitimate business interest (trade secrets, customer goodwill, specialized training). Use a 1- to 2-year duration. Limit geographic scope to where the worker actually provided services. Tie scope of activity to the worker’s actual role. Continued employment is adequate consideration; the standard NoVA consideration recital works in Tennessee without modification.

Non-compete drafting for physicians and medical practitioners. T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 controls. Cap duration at 2 years and geography at the smaller of 10 miles from the primary practice site or the boundaries of the county where the physician primarily practiced. Map the specific statutory carve-outs for hospitalist arrangements and for practices in counties with fewer than 75,000 residents. Document the legitimate business interest carefully.

Customer non-solicit drafting. Draft tied to customers the worker had material contact with during the last 1 to 2 years of employment. 1 to 2 years is the standard duration.

Employee non-solicit drafting. 1 to 2 years tied to specific co-workers with whom the worker had material professional contact.

Confidentiality and trade-secret covenants. Draft narrowly to protect identifiable trade secrets and confidential business information. The Tennessee Trade Secrets Act at T.C.A. Section 47-25-1701 provides separate trade-secret protection with injunctive relief, damages, and attorney fees for willful misappropriation. The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act at 18 USC Section 1836 applies in parallel.

Choice of law and forum. Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses generally hold in Tennessee. Include a Virginia choice of law and Virginia forum clause for general contract issues. For physician non-competes, expect TN law to apply regardless of the chosen contract.

Wage Regulation Act compliance. Audit your wage statement and final-pay protocol against T.C.A. Section 50-2-103. The 21-day backstop is forgiving but still requires monitoring for any departing worker with disputed commissions or bonuses.

TN E-Verify compliance. If your company has 50 or more workers nationwide, build E-Verify into your Tennessee onboarding workflow per T.C.A. Section 50-1-703.

THRA and TPPA-aware procedures. Update HR procedures so that line managers understand the THRA at the 8-worker coverage threshold and the TPPA whistleblower protections. The TPPA’s private right of action with damages and attorney’s fees makes documenting separation and disciplinary decisions important.

Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act compliance. Update your reasonable-accommodation procedures to cover the Tennessee PWFA requirements at the 15-worker threshold. The Tennessee PWFA preceded the federal PWFA effective June 2023; both apply for covered employers.

Severance templates. Update severance and settlement templates for the federal Speak Out Act and FAIR Act and the federal whistleblower statutes. Include carve-outs preserving the worker’s right to report illegal conduct to government agencies and to file with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

10. How I Help NoVA Employers Manage Tennessee Workforce Risk

When a Northern Virginia employer calls me about Nashville-based workers, the engagement focuses on Hasty-compliant non-compete drafting with the blue-pencil safety net, T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 compliance for any physician workers, THRA and TPPA-aware procedures, and TN E-Verify compliance for 50-or-more-worker employers. The Tennessee compliance lift is light.

The Tennessee audit I run covers six areas. (1) Non-compete compliance under Hasty reasonableness with the blue-pencil safety net for non-physician workers. (2) T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 physician non-compete statutory limits for any Tennessee-based medical or clinical staff. (3) Customer non-solicit, employee non-solicit, and confidentiality covenant drafting. (4) Wage Regulation Act compliance with the 21-day final payback stop. (5) THRA-aware harassment investigation procedures at the 8-worker coverage threshold, TPPA whistleblower protections, Tennessee Disability Act at-all-sizes coverage, and Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act compliance. (6) TN E-Verify enrollment for 50-or-more-worker employers.

From there, the engagement typically moves through redrafting the Tennessee addendum, updating the wage-payment protocol, THRA and TPPA training, E-Verify enrollment confirmation, and severance template updates. The work usually takes one to two weeks for a company with a handful of Nashville workers.

For litigation strategy, Nashville-based disputes go to the Middle District of Tennessee (federal, Nashville) or the Davidson County Circuit Court or Chancery Court (state, Nashville). Both run experienced employment dockets. THRA, TPPA, Tennessee Disability Act, and Wage Regulation Act claims are typically heard in state court. Federal claims (FLSA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA) are heard in federal court. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes and non-compete enforcement with a Virginia forum clause involving a Nashville worker.

My approach with every client is the same. You talk to me directly. Strategy comes from preparation. The right outcome is rarely one answer; it is a system that makes the next hire, the next move, the next separation, and the next complaint easier to handle without exposure. That system works at any size, whether you have one Nashville engineer or twenty distributed across the metro and Middle Tennessee.

Summary

Tennessee sits in the reasonableness cluster on non-competes with a friendlier framework than North Carolina: TN courts allow blue-pencil modification of overbroad covenants under Central Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Ingram. Hasty v. Rent-A-Driver, Inc., 671 S.W.2d 471 (Tenn. 1984), articulates the multi-factor reasonableness test. Continued employment is adequate consideration. T.C.A. Section 63-1-148 imposes specific statutory limits on physician non-competes (2-year duration cap, geographic limit of 10 miles or county boundaries, whichever is smaller, with carve-outs for hospitalists and small counties).

The Tennessee Human Rights Act at T.C.A. Section 4-21-101 covers employers with 8 or more workers, a lower threshold than federal Title VII’s 15. The Tennessee Disability Act at T.C.A. Section 8-50-103 covers all Tennessee employers (no minimum size). The Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act at T.C.A. Section 50-10-101 (effective October 1, 2020) requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy. The Tennessee Public Protection Act at T.C.A. Section 50-1-304 protects whistleblowers across the private sector with a private right of action.

The Tennessee Wage Regulation Act at T.C.A. Section 50-2-103 requires final wages by the next regular payday or within 21 days after separation, whichever is later, one of the most forgiving final-pay rules in the country. Tennessee E-Verify at T.C.A. Section 50-1-703 applies to employers with 50 or more workers. Tennessee is a right-to-work state. Tennessee has no state pay transparency posting rule, no state salary history ban, no statewide paid sick leave, no state-level paid family leave, and no state mini-WARN. The Tennessee Trade Secrets Act at T.C.A. Section 47-25-1701 provides standard UTSA trade-secret protection. The Tennessee minimum wage tracks the federal FLSA at $7.25 per hour.

Your Virginia choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses do real work in Tennessee for non-compete, customer nonsolicit, and confidentiality enforcement, and for general contract disputes. For THRA, TPPA, Tennessee Disability Act, Wage Regulation Act, and physician non-compete claims under T.C.A. Section 63-1-148, Tennessee law applies regardless of contract language. EDVA is fully available for general contract disputes and non-compete enforcement with a Virginia forum clause involving a Nashville worker.

For the framework that runs through every state guide in this series, see my cornerstone guide for hiring out-of-state remote workers.

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Anthony I. Shin, Esq.

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