Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is pictured in this file photo. (Photo by Wade Payne, Special to the News Sentinel)NASHVILLE – Departing from long-standing state practice, Gov. Bill Haslam is refusing to grant legislatively mandated pay raises to hundreds of state workers who have been disciplined over the past year.
Tennessee State Employees Association leaders call the move “mean-spirited” and say they are exploring legal action. TSEA officials, however, acknowledge courts might come out with a liberal interpretation and affirm the Republican governor’s ability to deny the raises.
The across-the-board pay increases of 1.6 percent for an estimated 42,000 executive branch workers – their first in four years – went into effect July 1.
Most were implemented, but in a June 28 Cabinet meeting, according to a memo written by state Human Resources Commissioner Rebecca Hunter, the governor and top officials excluded employees who have “been demoted, suspended or received more than one written warning in the past year.”
That was later changed to two written warnings.