Arizona voters last November approved Proposition 206, The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act. The Act requires most Arizona employers to allow employees to accrue paid sick leave, effective July 1, 2017. It also increases the minimum wage in increments.
Legal challenges to the constitutionality of that law by a cadre of business interests have been unsuccessful, thus far. On March 14, in a one-paragraph opinion, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected the argument that the Proposition was unconstitutional. The Court stated that it would issue a “written opinion further explaining the Court’s decision … in due course” but has not yet done so.
The Arizona Industrial Commission (AIC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning the Act on May 5, 2017. The comment period ended on June 5, 2017. The AIC also issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Minimum Wage and Earned Paid Sick Time, updated most recently on May 19, 2017.
Here, I use the PSL-4Step framework to analyze The Arizona Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act.
Step 1: Does it apply?
“Employer” includes every type of business entity, political subdivision of Arizona, individual or other entity “acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee” excluding the State of Arizona and the United States.
“Employee” means any person who is employed by an employer but does not include anyone employed by a parent or a sibling, or who is employed performing babysitting services in the employer’s home on a casual basis. The term also includes recipients of public benefits working as a condition of receiving public assistance. There are no salary-based exemptions.
The earned paid sick time provisions (referred to in this blog as PSL) are effective July 1, 2017 except if a labor contract is in effect at that time, the law takes effect upon the expiration of that contract.
An employer and union may “expressly waive[]” any or all of the law’s PSL requirements in their labor contract by using “clear and unambiguous terms.” (Help me understand the logic of that provision.) Continue reading