Labor and Employment Blog 3 Tips For Navigating Workplace Romances This Valentine’s Day and Beyond February 12, 2021 With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, love is in the air – and possibly in your workplace! Consider the scenario below: You work in the Human Resources department of ABC Corp., a small, 20-person company that has always prided itself on maintaining a professional, but fun working environment. This year’s Valentine’s Day lunch is no exception;…

Labor and Employment Blog President Biden Targets Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination Through Executive Order February 11, 2021 Amongst the flurry of other recent executive orders and administrative directives during his first 30 days in office, President Joseph R. Biden signed an executive order seeking to eliminate gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, and various overlapping forms of discrimination on the basis of multiple protected classes, in federal government departments and agencies.  This executive…

Labor and Employment Blog Arizona’s Minimum Wage Increases in the New Year: What Employers Should Know December 30, 2020 As with every new year in Arizona, new resolutions should include wage adjustments as required by law.  Even with the global pandemic, these statutory increases continue.  Under Arizona’s minimum wage law, the state-mandated minimum wage increases from $12.00 to $12.15 effective January 1, 2021.  Arizona employers may continue to take a tip credit for tipped employees…

Labor and Employment Blog Recreational Marijuana Passes in Arizona – Should Employers Be Concerned? November 10, 2020 Arizona voters recently approved Proposition 207 – also known as the “Smart and Safe Arizona Act” – which largely decriminalizes marijuana possession and use for those who are at least 21 years old, establishes a framework for regulating the sale and possession of marijuana, and imposes excise taxes on recreational marijuana.    Although marijuana was previously authorized under Arizona…

Labor and Employment Blog Supreme Court’s LGBTQ Discrimination Decision Impacts Arizona Employers June 16, 2020 Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful for a covered employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual… because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”  For a number of years, both courts and employers have grappled with the question of whether…

Labor and Employment Blog The Small Business Exemption for the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the FMLA Expansion Act April 8, 2020 The Department of Labor (DOL) has provided us with regulations governing the application of the small business exemption for both the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (FMLA Expansion Act) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (Paid Sick Leave Act).  Under both enactments, employers with fewer than 50 employees may…