Bill > SB1683

This bill, known as the "Tennessee Child Care Hosting Safe Harbor Act," aims to protect employers and other entities that provide space or support for licensed child care providers from liability for damages caused by the child care provider's actions or omissions. Specifically, an "employer" is defined as a business that subsidizes child care costs for its employees or hosts a child care provider on its premises without operating or managing it, while a "host entity" is any person or organization that allows a licensed child care provider to operate on their property. Under this act, these employers and host entities will generally not be held responsible in civil lawsuits for harm resulting from the child care provider's negligence, as long as the child care provider is licensed by the state. However, this protection does not apply if the employer or host entity is grossly negligent or engages in willful misconduct that directly causes the harm, or if they are actually operating, controlling, managing, licensed as, or directly employing and supervising the child care provider or its staff. The bill clarifies that simply providing space, utilities, maintenance, security, capital improvements, or financial support to a child care provider does not, by itself, constitute operating or managing it. This new law will take effect on July 1, 2026, and will apply to incidents occurring on or after that date.