A new law signed Wednesday by Gov. Doug Ducey is designed to keep cities from requiring employers to offer things like paid time off. The legality of the measure is already in question.
Businesses would like to keep cities from establishing their own living wage laws. But they can't because the 2006 voter-approved law setting up a state minimum wage specifically allows local governments to set a higher figure. And the Arizona Constitution prohibits lawmakers from tinkering with what voters enact.
The bill Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, crafted seeks to get around that by declaring things like sick leave, maternity leave and even severance pay to be "nonwage compensation." But Rebekah Friend of the AFL-CIO, who was responsible for the 2006 measure, said that law keeps legislators from interfering in any issues of compensation, including fringe benefits.
Mesnard conceded there are legal questions: "All we can do is the best we can at trying to draw a line between wage and nonwage. At the end of the day, as with anything, you can end up in court. And then a judge is going to tell us the interpretation."
But Mesnard said he stands behind the legislation, saying companies doing business in multiple cities should not have to worry about having to comply with different requirements for their employees depending on where they work.