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Previous Updates
Home Health Agencies
Effective January 1, 2025, HB 2764 will require home health agencies to contact an applicant's previous employers to obtain information or recommendations that may be relevant to a person's fitness to work in a home health agency. The bill also requires employers to verify that a potential employee is not on the adult protective services registry.
Recordkeeping Requirements for Child Labor
An establishment employing youths under the age of 16 must have the following information available:
- Number of hours the youth is employed in each week,
- Number of hours the youth is employed in each day,
- The dates the youth is enrolled in a session of school,
- The name of the school district in which the youth is enrolled, and
- The specific hours the youth works at the establishment.
Occupational Safety and Health Law Amendment
Effective September 14, 2024, Arizona amends its occupational safety and health law to prohibit an individual from accompanying an Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) compliance officer during inspections unless the individual meets specific criteria.
The amendment also permits an employer to require specific conditions for third parties accompanying the compliance officer and makes provisions for inspections of identified trade secret areas. These changes aim to streamline the inspection process while safeguarding sensitive business information and ensuring that only qualified individuals participate in inspections.
Phoenix Heat Safety Ordinance
The Phoenix City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring all city contractors and subcontractors to develop and maintain a written heat safety plan to prevent heat-related illnesses and injuries in the workplace. Outdoor workers in Phoenix may be susceptible to heat-related illness and injury due to the extreme Arizona temperatures. In 2023, for example, the City experienced 133 days with temperatures 100 degrees or higher and a record 55 days when temperatures exceeded 109 degrees.
The heat safety plans mandated by the ordinance apply to all contracts, leases, and licenses with the city, including subcontracts. The plans must include:
- Availability of free cool drinking water.
- Ability to take regular and necessary breaks (including water breaks).
- Access to shade and/or air conditioning.
- Access to air conditioning in vehicles with enclosed cabs.
- Acclimatization practices.
- Training on heat illness and injury.
For safety questions and assistance, you can reach out to SafetyandRisk@frankcrum.com.
Clean Slate Law
Effective December 31, 2022, Arizona law allows individuals to petition to seal case records related to criminal offenses if the person was:
- Convicted of a criminal offense and has completed all of the terms and conditions of the court-imposed sentence;
- Charged with a criminal offense and the charge was dismissed or resulted in a not guilty verdict at trial; or
- Arrested for a criminal offense, and no charges were filed.
Certain individuals are not eligible to have their records sealed.
If an individual's petition to seal a criminal record is granted, the person may state that they have never been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of the crime in response to questions on an employment application, subject to certain exceptions. The employer is not liable for hiring or contracting with the person based on the person's criminal history.
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Sexual Harassment Claims
Effective September 24, 2022, Arizona has expanded its definition of employer under the Arizona Civil Rights Act for sexual harassment claims.
Under the amended law, an employer includes any person with one or more employees in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of that person, who is alleged to have:
• Committed any act of sexual harassment; or
• Discriminated against anyone for opposing sexual harassment or assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing arising from sexual harassment.
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• Discriminated against anyone for opposing sexual harassment or assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing arising from sexual harassment.
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Tucson Minimum Wage Increase
Effective April 1, 2022, the minimum wage in Tucson, Arizona, takes effect at $13.00 per hour. The minimum wage will next increase to $13.50 per hour on January 1, 2023.
Arizona Legalizes Recreational Marijuana
In November 2020, Arizona voters approved the Smart and Safe Arizona Act (Proposition 207; the Act) to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by adults aged 21 and over. The legalization is expected to take effect in early December 2020, upon certification of the election results.
The Act affects employers in that it does not:
- Restrict an employer's right to maintain a drug- and alcohol-free workplace;
- Prevent an employer from having workplace policies restricting the use of marijuana by current or prospective employees;
- Require an employer to allow or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale, or cultivation of marijuana in a place of employment;
- or Restrict an employer's right to prohibit or regulate an employee's recreational use of marijuana on the employer's property.
