Blog Posts: Employment

Many companies have been requesting that remote workers return to the office. There are many employees who want to continue teleworking. Employers need to carefully evaluate each request. Talk With the Employee Employers need to talk with the employee to figure out why they want to telework. Some of the common reasons are as follows:Diagnosis of COVID-19; ...

Arizona is an at-will employment state. This means employers may terminate employees for any reason or no reason at all so long as the reason is not an illegal one. Several state and federal laws prohibit employers from terminating employees for unlawful reasons. For example, the Arizona Employment Protection Act affords employees a cause of action for wrongful ter...

An employer may request that an employee sign a non-solicitation agreement. When the employment ends, the trouble sometimes begins. If you are an Arizona employee and your former employer has sent a demand letter, threatened to sue you, or has actually filed suit against you for soliciting its customers and employees, there are many important considerations. The ...

The Arizona minimum wage will increase yet again from $12.15 per hour to $12.80 per hour. The increase will take effect on January 1, 2022 and will remain in effect until December 31, 2022. This means that Arizona employers will need to start paying the higher minimum wage ($12.80 per hour) for all hours worked after January 1, 2022. The Arizona minimum wage will ...

Two years ago, these words were seldom used in the business context – remote workers, hybrid schedule, and essential workers. Now they are the norm. During the pandemic, many employers have embraced telework opportunities for their workforce. While surveys consistently report that many employees favor the flexibility that telework and hybrid work offers them, t...

While it seems evident that no employer would want an environment where employees are not respected, valued, and protected from being sexually harassed, it still happens. If you work for an Arizona employer, and you are being sexually harassed at work, there are steps that you can, and should, take. First, Report It The first thing to do - and the most important...

On July 7, 2021, President Biden announced that he intends to sign an executive order targeting employer-employee non-compete covenants (agreements) nationwide through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC investigates and enforces a variety of antitrust and consumer protection laws governing unfair or deceptive acts or practices it deems to be unfair or de...

A whistleblower is a term used in employment law for any employee who raises concerns about unlawful conduct. Arizona has a comprehensive whistleblower law that protects whistleblowers. This law makes it unlawful for an Arizona employer to terminate an employee who blows the whistle. There are, however, several things to consider before blowing the whistle. 1. ...

It is estimated that as many as 75% of Arizona contractors are not paying their employees overtime properly. If the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") conducts an audit, the results can be devastating to an employer. The Department has authority to conclude that the contractor failed to properly pay overtime to all of its employees and assess damages, fines, and pe...

Governor Ducey recently signed an executive order requiring Arizona schools to reopen for in-person learning by March 15, 2021. Additionally, many employers that have allowed employees to work remotely during the pandemic are now asking them to return to the office. Although there are many factors at play, the fact that vaccines are now more readily available likel...