Industrial Commission of Arizona Raises Minimum Wage to $7.65 for 2012
The Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) recently announced that Arizona’s minimum wage will increase from its current rate of $7.35 to $7.65 for the calendar year 2012. This 30-cent bump is based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), which increased 3.8% from August 2010 to August 2011. Arizona’s minimum wage now will be 40 cents higher than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25. The latter does not increase automatically and must be increased through congressional action.
Arizona Employers Can Now Require Electronic Payment of Wages
Arizona has joined a growing list of states that allow employers to pay wages electronically. Recent amendments to Arizona's wage payment statutes (A.R.S. §§ 23-350 and -351) went into effect on July 20, 2011, providing employers the option of paying wages using a "payroll card account" to employees who decline to authorize payment by direct deposit to their bank or financial institution.
Arizona Medical Marijuana Law Update: State Files Lawsuit to Clarify Obligations Under the Act, and the Drug Testing Modifications Go Into Effect
On November 2, 2010, Arizona voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA). The AMMA, which went into effect in mid-April 2011, permits a qualifying patient with a debilitating medical condition to apply to the Arizona Department for Health Services (ADHS) for an identification card that allows the patient to obtain, or in certain cases cultivate, a limited amount of marijuana. The AMMA also requires Arizona employers to make reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees who use medical marijuana and creates certain nondiscrimination obligations.
Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Legal Workers Act
On May 26, 2011, the United States Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting upholding the Arizona Legal Workers Act (“the Act”). The Act provides that the business licenses of employers who knowingly or intentionally employ unauthorized aliens may be, and in certain circumstances must be, suspended or revoked. The law also requires that all Arizona employers use E-Verify. The Court held that neither of these provisions was preempted by federal immigration law.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Arizona's E-Verify Law and Penalty Provisions for Employing Unauthorized Workers
On May 26, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona's 2007 immigration law that requires all employers to use E-Verify for all new hires and permits the revocation of a company's business license as a penalty for employing unauthorized workers. This decision resulted from a challenge to the Legal Arizona Workers Act of 2007, not to be confused with the 2010 controversial Arizona "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act."
Supreme Court Rules Arizona's Immigration Law Is Not In Conflict With Federal Law
On May 26, 2011, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the 5-3 majority, in part joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that federal immigration law does not preempt or invalidate an Arizona law, which subjected state employers to sanctions for knowingly or intentionally employing unauthorized aliens and which required that all Arizona employers use E-Verify. According to the high court, in enacting its law, "Arizona has taken the route least likely to cause tension with federal law." "If even this gives rise to impermissible conflicts with federal law," the Court noted, "then there really is no way for the State to implement licensing sanctions, contrary to the express terms of the savings clause." Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Whiting, No. 09-115, U.S. Supreme Court (May 26, 2011).
Arizona Immigration Law Valid According to Divided Supreme Court
To the political bonfire of illegal immigration, the U.S. Supreme Court has just dumped several gallons of petrol, with its decision upholding the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which places penalties for hiring illegal workers on most Arizona employers and requires that employers use E-verify.
State E-Verify Requirements Upheld by Supreme Court
The United States Supreme Court has upheld Arizona's requirement for all employers in the state to use E-Verify on penalty of losing their business licenses. More states might follow Arizona.
New Legislation Defines “Impairment” And Addresses Other Employer Concerns Created By The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act
House Bill 2541, which was recently passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on April 29, 2011, amends Arizona’s drug testing statute by defining terms and adding much-needed protections for employers in light of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The Act, passed by Arizona voters last November, includes a specific employment-based anti-discrimination section that protects medical marijuana “cardholders.” Employers are prohibited from taking adverse actions, such as termination, based on an employee’s or applicant’s status as a cardholder, or a qualifying patient’s positive drug test, unless the qualifying patient (i.e., a cardholder authorized to use medical marijuana) used, possessed or was “impaired” by marijuana while at work or during work hours. The Act’s failure to define “impaired” left employers questioning how to determine whether an employee is impaired without running afoul of the anti-discrimination language, and when employers could lawfully take any action against a cardholder.
Arizona's New Legislative Prescription For Employer Medical Marijuana Ailments
Employers in Arizona exhaled a sigh of relief as Governor Jan Brewer signed a new law Friday, April 29, 2011. Among other things, the new law protects employers who take action against employees suspected of working while impaired by marijuana or other prohibited substances.
