Tennessee: New-Hire Wage Notice Requirements
The short answer
Tennessee requires a covered employer to inform an employee of the amount of wages before allowing the employee to work, but the statute does not require a written notice, prescribed form, signature, or acknowledgment. The rule broadly covers establishments where labor is employed or machinery is used, with domestic-service, agricultural, farm-labor, and specified interstate-railroad exclusions. A covered pay reduction likewise must be disclosed before work is performed at the lower rate.
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This is the general rule in Tennessee. Ezel applies current Tennessee law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and coverage | T.C.A. §§ 50-2-101, 50-2-104. Before work, disclose wage amount in broadly defined workshops/factories, including any establishment using labor or machinery. No size floor stated. Excludes domestic service, agricultural pursuits/farm labor, and interstate railroads subject to the Railway Labor Act. |
|---|---|
| Delivery timing and form | Inform employee before permitting work at the stated wage (§ 50-2-101(b)); oral or written delivery may be used because no writing or form is prescribed. Separate rules: 5+ private employers post payday notices in 2 conspicuous places; payroll-card users explain the system and give full written fee disclosure before default card pay (§ 50-2-103(d), (e)(2)). |
| Pay rate, basis, and overtime | Required field: amount of wages to be paid (§ 50-2-101(b)). Piece-work and commission employment remain permitted (§ 50-2-101(c)(2)); no separate statutory hire field for pay basis, multiple rates, regular rate, or overtime rate. |
| Hours, payday, allowances, and deductions | No individual hire field for hours, payment place, allowances, benefits, or deductions. A 5+ private employer posts the regular payday in 2 conspicuous places; prepaid-card employees receive full written disclosure of applicable card fees (§ 50-2-103(d), (e)(2)). |
| Employer identity, insurance, and other contents | No employer-name, address, telephone, workers' compensation, leave, emergency, or other identity/content field stated in § 50-2-101. The statutory notice is limited to the wage amount. |
| Language, template, and acknowledgment | No written form, agency template, language rule, translation, employer/employee signature, date, acknowledgment, or receipt-retention duty stated in § 50-2-101. |
| Change notice and record retention | Covered pay change: notify the employee before any work is performed at the new amount (§ 50-2-101; TDLWD guidance). No fixed number of days, writing requirement, wage-increase exception, or notice-copy retention period. Payday posters must be maintained (§ 50-2-103(d)). |
| Enforcement, remedies, and local overlays | TDLWD enforces § 50-2-101; failure to inform is a Class C misdemeanor. Misrepresenting wages on entering a new employment contract is a Class C misdemeanor plus a discretionary $500-$1,000 civil penalty, with a first unintentional warning (§ 50-2-104). Section 50-2-113 preempts additional local wage-theft requirements. |
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Requirements one by one
The required disclosure is the wage amount, not a prescribed document
Tennessee Code § 50-2-101(b) makes it unlawful for a covered proprietor,
foreman, owner, or other person to let someone work for hire without first
“informing the employee of the amount of wages to be paid for the labor.” The
section does not say that the disclosure must be written, use a state form, be
signed, or be acknowledged. It also does not separately require hire-time
fields for overtime, hours, payday, deductions, employer identity, insurance,
or leave.
The statutory term “workshops and factories” is broader than its everyday
meaning. Section 50-2-101(a) lists manufacturing, mills, mechanical,
electrical, mercantile, art, laundering, printing, telegraph, telephone, and
department-store work, then reaches “any kind of establishment where labor is
employed or machinery is used.” Domestic service and agricultural pursuits are
excluded. Subsection (b) separately excludes farm labor and interstate railroad
companies subject to the Railway Labor Act.
Piece-work and commission arrangements are permitted. The employer still must
inform the covered worker of the wage amount before the work begins; the
statute does not create a separate prescribed commission or piece-rate form.
Payday posting and payroll-card fees are separate disclosures
For private employers with five or more employees, § 50-2-103(d) requires
regular paydays and notices in at least two conspicuous places where employees
can see them going to and from work. That is a continuing workplace posting,
not an individualized hire notice.
If the employer uses prepaid debit cards, § 50-2-103(e)(2) requires an
explanation of the system and full written disclosure of applicable fees before
the employer defaults an employee to card payment after the employee fails to
designate a financial account. The employee must also have the choice of
electronic transfer. This writing concerns the payment method and its fees, not
the employee's complete wage terms.
A lower rate must be disclosed before work at that rate
The Department of Labor and Workforce Development explains the change rule in
practical terms: “An employee's pay can be reduced as long as the employer
notifies the employee BEFORE any work is done.” Section 50-2-101 states no
fixed number of advance days, written form, increase exception, or notice-copy
retention period.
Section 50-2-104 separately addresses accuracy when a new employment contract
is formed. An employer that misrepresents the wage amount faces a Class C
misdemeanor and a discretionary civil penalty of $500 to $1,000. An
unintentional first violation receives a warning in place of the civil penalty.
What trips people up
“Inform” does not mean “give a written wage notice.” Tennessee requires the
wage amount to be communicated before work, but § 50-2-101 does not prescribe
paper, electronic delivery, a template, or a signature.
The coverage label is unusually broad. A retail or other labor-using
establishment may fall within the definition even though nobody would normally
call it a factory. The express service, agriculture, farm-labor, and railroad
exclusions still matter.
The payday poster does not replace the wage disclosure. The poster tells
employees the regular payday. It does not state each employee's wage amount.
Local wage-theft overlays are restricted. Section 50-2-113(d) expressly
preempts local requirements, regulations, or processes aimed at wage theft that
exceed the designated state and federal laws.
Common questions
Can an offer letter provide the Tennessee wage disclosure?
Yes, if it reaches the covered employee before work begins and accurately
states the wage amount. Tennessee does not require an offer letter or make a
signed offer the exclusive method.
Must the notice state an overtime rate or regular payday?
Section 50-2-101 requires the amount of wages but does not list a separate
overtime-rate or payday field. The regular payday is handled by the separate
workplace-posting rule for covered private employers.
Can an employer reduce pay after the employee already did the work?
The agency's current guidance requires notice before any work is done at the
reduced rate. The statute does not authorize a retroactive reduction of the
wage amount previously disclosed for completed work.
Statutes and sources
- T.C.A. § 50-2-101(a)-(d) — broad coverage definition, pre-work wage-
amount disclosure, exclusions, piece-work and commission rule, Class C
misdemeanor, and department enforcement.without first informing the employee of the amount of wages to be paid for
the labor
Official-code source: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r74/gov.tn.tca.title.50.html (accessed 2026-07-22)
- 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 240, §§ 1-2 — signed act supplying the current
§ 50-2-101(b) and (d) text.
Official source: https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/108/pub/pc0240.pdf (accessed 2026-07-22)
- T.C.A. § 50-2-103(d), (e)(2) — payday posting and prepaid-card written
fee disclosure.
shall post and maintain notices ... in at least two (2) conspicuous places
Official-code source: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r74/gov.tn.tca.title.50.html (accessed 2026-07-22)
Signed payroll-card amendment: https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/106/pub/pc0874.pdf (accessed 2026-07-22)
- T.C.A. § 50-2-104 — consequences for misrepresenting wages upon a new
employment contract.
subject to a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500)
nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000)
Official-code source: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r74/gov.tn.tca.title.50.html (accessed 2026-07-22)
- T.C.A. § 50-2-113(d) — state preemption of additional local wage-theft
requirements.
Official-code source: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r74/gov.tn.tca.title.50.html (accessed 2026-07-22)
- Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development wage guidance —
pre-work notice for a reduced rate and the five-employee payday baseline.
Official source: https://www.tn.gov/workforce/employees/labor-laws/labor-laws-redirect/wages-breaks.html (accessed 2026-07-22)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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