Minimum wage hikes, predictive scheduling, and more defeated.
Hard-Fought Victories for Arizona Business at Latest Legislative Session
Arizona
small business owners faced threats on both the federal and local levels during
the recently concluded legislative session, but a diligent defense managed to
keep the damage to a minimum.
A
major challenge came from the U.S. Department of Labor, said NFIB/Arizona State
Director Farrell Quinlan. The department is pressuring state agencies to reclassify contract
workers as W-2 employees, which would significantly increase costs such
as overtime pay for small businesses, Quinlan said.
“If
they’re reclassified, it could be a huge threat to business,” Quinlan said.
To
combat this, NFIB worked with state legislators to approve House Bill 2114, which protects contract employees in Arizona
and saves small business owners money, Quinlan said. The bill establishes a Declaration of Independent Business
Status that allows workers and businesses to create a legal presumption for
state enforcement agencies of a valid independent contractor relationship.
The
Legislature also passed an important law pre-empting cities from requiring
businesses to provide certain non-wage benefits, such as paid leave or
severance pay, to their workers. While this is likely to be challenged in
court, proponents say the law will allow businesses and employees, rather than
individual cities, to determine what works best for them.
