Tennessee § 50-9-113 - State and local government construction contracts.

§ 50-9-113. State and local government construction contracts.

Each employer with five (5) or more employees receiving pay who contracts with the state or any local government to provide construction services or who is awarded a contract to provide construction services or who provides construction services to the state or local government shall submit an affidavit stating that the employer has a drug-free workplace program that complies with this chapter, in effect at the time of the submission of a bid at least to the extent required of governmental entities. Any private employer that certifies compliance with the drug-free workplace program, only to the extent required by this section, shall not receive any reduction in workers' compensation premiums and shall not be entitled to any other benefit provided by compliance with the drug-free workplace program set forth in this chapter. Nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce or diminish the rights or privileges of any private employer who has a drug-free workplace program that fully complies with this chapter. For purposes of compliance with this section, any private employer shall obtain a certificate of compliance with the applicable portions of the Drug-free Workplace Act from the department of labor and workforce development. No local government or state governmental entity shall enter into any contract or award a contract for construction services with an employer who does not comply with this section. If it is determined that an employer subject to this section has entered into a contract with a local government or state agency and the employer does not have a drug-free workplace pursuant to this section, the employer shall be prohibited from entering into another contract with any local government or state agency until the employer can prove compliance with the drug-free workplace program pursuant to this section. If the same employer again contracts with any local government or state agency and does not have a drug-free workplace program pursuant to this section, then the employer shall be prohibited from entering into another contract with any local government or state agency for not less than three (3) months from the date the violation was discovered and verified and shall be prohibited from entering into another contract until the employer complies with the drug-free workplace program pursuant to this section. If the same employer for a third time contracts with any local government or state agency and does not have a drug-free workplace program pursuant to this section, then the employer shall be prohibited from entering into another contract with any local government or state agency for not less than one (1) year from the date the violation was discovered and verified and shall be prohibited from entering into another contract until the employer complies with the drug-free workplace program pursuant to this section. A written affidavit by the principal officer of a covered employer provided to a local government at the time the bid or contract is submitted stating that the employer is in compliance with this section shall absolve the local government of all further responsibility under this section and any liability arising from the employer's compliance or failure of compliance with this section. For the purposes of this section, “employer” does not include any utility or unit of local government. “Employer” includes any private company or corporation. Acts 2000, ch. 918, §§ 1, 2. Attorney General Opinions. An employer was barred from bidding on a contract under T.C.A. § 50-9-113 , public contracting statutes and other provisions of the law where: (1) The employer submitted an affidavit stating that the employer had a drug-free workplace program with its bid for construction services for a board of education project; (2) The employer did not have a certificate of compliance from the department of labor and workforce development at the time the affidavit was submitted; (3) The employer subsequently provided information showing that it had obtained a certificate of compliance after the bid was submitted; and (4) The local board of education had independent knowledge that the employer did not have a certificate of compliance from the department of labor and workforce development at the time the affidavit was submitted, OAG 02-001 (1/2/02). Where the local board of education had actual knowledge that an employer was not in compliance with the statute, T.C.A. § 50-9-113(c) did not apply, OAG 02-001 (1/2/02). The board of education should award a contract to the next lowest bidder who has complied with T.C.A. § 50-9-113 when the low bid employer is not in compliance with the statute, OAG 02-001 (1/2/02). A board of education should not reject all bids and re-bid an entire project unless all the bidders failed to comply with the terms of T.C.A. § 50-9-113 , OAG 02-001 (1/2/02).