Complaints By Employees

(1) Any employee or representative of employees who believes that a violation of the Act exists in any workplace where such employee is employed may request an inspection of such workplace by giving notice of the alleged violation to the Commissioner or compliance officer. Any such notice shall be reduced to writing, shall set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, and shall be signed by the employee or representative of employees. A copy shall be provided to the employer or his agent by the Commissioner or compliance officer no later than at the time of the inspection, except that, upon the request of the person giving such notice, his name and the names of individual employees referred to therein shall not appear in such copy or on any record published, released or made available by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH INSPECTIONS, CHAPTER 0800-01-04 CITATIONS AND PROPOSED PENALTIES (2) If upon receipt of such notification the Commissioner determines that the complaint meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (1) of this rule, and that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged violation exists, he shall cause an inspection to be made as soon as practicable, to determine if such alleged violation exists. Inspections under this rule shall not be limited to matters referred to in the complaint. (3) Prior to or during any inspection of a workplace, any employee or representative of employees employed in such workplace may notify the compliance officer, in writing, of any violation of the Act which they have reason to believe exists in such workplace. Any such notice shall comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) of this rule. (4) T.C.A. §50-3-409 provides: “No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because the employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or because of the exercise by the employee on behalf of such employee or others of any rights afforded by this chapter.’’