Arizona passed the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act in 2017. The Act requires all Arizona employers to provide paid sick leave (PSL) to their employees, regardless of whether they work full-time or part-time or on a permanent, temporary, or occasional basis.

Here is a look at a few provisions of the Act –

• All employers who have fewer than 15 employees (including full-time, part-time and temporary employees) have to provide at least 24 hours of annual PSL. Those with 15 or more employees have to provide at least 40 hours of annual PSL.
• Employers may award PSL hours in a lump sum at the start of the year, or employees may accrue PSL at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked up to the statutory cap or a more generous accrual cap in employers’ discretion.
• There are provisions for rollover of unused hours but employers can limit annual PSL usage at 24 or 40 hours.
• Employers cannot retaliate against employees for exercising their protected leave rights. (An action taken against an employee within 90 days of the employee’s using PSL is retaliatory unless the employer can prove otherwise.)

With the COVID-19 outbreak, employers have to deal with work-from-home scenarios, employee absences and illnesses.

These tips can help ensure compliance with the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act during this time.

• Employees may useaccrued PSL, but employers can delay use of PSL by newly-hired employees until after their ninetieth (90th) day of employment. In light of the severity of the pandemic and the need for‘social distancing,’ employers may choose to do away with the 90-day waiting period. In case of an exposed employee, employers may use their discretion to lend PSL to an employee in advance of accrual.

• Employees may use accrued PSL for –

a. mental or physical illness
b. injury
c. health condition
d. medical diagnosis
e. care, or treatment
f. preventive medical care

If an employee needs time off to be tested, the required time off would fall within the scope of the Act. Similarly, if the employee develops symptoms and requires time to recover from the virus, s/he can use accrued PSL for this purpose.

• Employees also may use accrued PSL to care for a sick family member, or who needs medical diagnosis, care or treatment, preventive medical care, or to care for them at home if they are ill.

• PSL may be used when an employee’s place of business has been closed (due to a public health emergency) or when an employee needs to care for a child (whose school or place of care has been closed due to a public health emergency). A “public health emergency” is a “state of emergency declared by the” Arizona “governor in which there is an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition caused by bioterrorism, an epidemic or pandemic disease or a highly fatal infectious agent or biological toxin and that poses a substantial risk of a significant number of human fatalities or incidents of permanent or long-term disability.”

• Employees may use PSL if local health authorities or a health care provider declares that the employee’s (or an employee’s family member’s) presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others. Employees who have been instructed by public health authorities or by their health care provider to isolate themselves may use PSL. Employees may also use PSL to care for such a family member.

• Employees may request PSL in person, via email, via text messageor any other means acceptable to the employer.

• All medical information obtained about the employee or the employee’s family member in the course of determining PSL eligibility and entitlement must be kept confidential and not disclosed except with the employee’s permission.

To learn more, consult one of the leading wrongful termination attorney and sexual harassment lawyers in Phoenix, AZ at Chahbazi Law PLLC or call 602-282-5868 Now! Attorney Meenoo Chahbazi uses her extensive experience and passion for employment equality to represent Arizona employees in a wide range of employment matters.