(a) When the commissioner has reasonable cause to suspect possible disease transmission by an employee of the facility, the commissioner may secure information about any recent illness of the employee or make other investigations as may be indicated. The commissioner may require any of the following:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 53-8-118

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture, the commissioner's duly authorized representative, and in the event of the commissioner's absence or vacancy in the office of commissioner, the deputy commissioner. See Tennessee Code 53-8-103
  • Employee: means a person:
    (A) In charge of a food establishment. See Tennessee Code 53-8-103
  • Food Code: means the 2009 Food Code as published by the United States department of health and human services, public health service, food and drug administration. See Tennessee Code 53-8-103
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, agency, municipality, state or political subdivision, or the federal government and its agencies and departments. See Tennessee Code 53-8-103
  • Person in charge: means an individual present at a food establishment who is responsible for the operation at the time of inspection. See Tennessee Code 53-8-103
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) The immediate exclusion of the employee from employment in the food establishment;
(2) The immediate closing of the facility until, in the commissioner’s opinion, no further danger of disease outbreak exists;
(3) Restricting the employee’s service to some area of the facility where there would be little likelihood of transmitting disease; or
(4) Adequate medical and laboratory examinations of the employee and of other employees.
(b) A person in charge, having been provided by the employee with written documentation from a person who practices in a medical profession in accordance with title 63 that the employee has been diagnosed with a condition set forth in Chapter 2, § 2-201.11(B)(2) of the Food Code shall have an affirmative duty to notify the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee. A person in charge shall not be required to obtain medical records from a prospective employee prior to hiring such individual as an employee.