Tennessee Code Title 41. Correctional Institutions and Inmates § 41-6-205

(a) Any inmate of any institution employed pursuant to this part shall be entitled to receive, after deductions authorized in § 41-6-206 or under any law, wages earned by the inmate in performing work. Wages shall be made available to the inmate at those times the commissioner may prescribe pursuant to regulation, but in no event later than at the time of the inmate's release, by parole or otherwise, from confinement in a state penal or correctional institution.

(b) The employment of inmates shall be subject to the Workers' Compensation Law, compiled in title 50, chapter 6.

(c) As a condition of employment, inmates shall waive all rights to be included in the unemployment compensation program of the state.