Tennessee Assisted Living Providers Prohibited From Denying Employee COVID-19 Vaccination Exemption Requests

A new Tennessee law that went into effect on March 11, 2022, prohibits most employers, including assisted living facilities, from enforcing a workplace mandate requiring workers to be vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The only employers exempted are health care provider organizations regulated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), federal contractors, and federal grant recipients. This new law affects assisted living provider organizations because these residential settings for frail adults are not regulated by CMS, nor are they federal contractors. As of April 17, 2022, about 54% of Tennessee residents were fully vaccinated, and 24 . . .