Arizona FMLA And Leave Law Guidelines And Requirements

The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that applies to employer organizations with 50 or more employees for 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year.

The Family & Medical Leave Act does not take the place of other sources of leave, including Arizona's FMLA and other state leave laws. To the extent an organization subject to the FMLA is also subject to a state leave law, it must comply with both the FMLA and the state leave law.

The challenge in coordinating compliance with federal and state law is that the state leave laws may differ from FMLA law in employee eligibility criteria, as well as the length and type of protection.

Arizona's FMLA And Other Leave Laws

Proposition 206, the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, was a ballot initiative approved in November 2016. This law requires all Arizona employers to provide paid sick leave, effective July 1, 2017.According to http://arizonapaidsickleave.com, Arizona employees may use their accrued sick time for themselves or to take care of family members. Sick leave can be used for the following:

• Medical care or mental or physical illness, injury, or health conditions
• Circumstances relating to public health emergency or communicable disease exposure
• Absence due to domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking

For employers with 15 or more employees:

• Employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked
• Employees may not use more than 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, unless the employer allows a higher limit

For employers with fewer than 15 employees:

• Employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked
• Employees may not use more than 24 hours of paid sick leave per year, unless the employer allows a higher limit

How To Determine Whether FMLA Guidelines Or State Guidelines Apply In Arizona

Here are some guidelines if your organization is subject to both FMLA and Arizona leave law:

• If an eligible employee wishes to take a leave that is covered under both the state leave law and the FMLA, then generally the leave can be run concurrently. In other words, it can be counted towards satisfying the requirements under both state and federal law simultaneously
• If an eligible employee wishes to take a leave covered under the FMLA, but not also covered under the state leave law, that leave can only count towards satisfaction of the FMLA requirements. The total amount of leave available under the state law would still be available to that employee
• If an eligible employee wishes to take a leave covered under the state leave law, but not also covered under the FMLA, that leave can only count towards satisfaction of the state leave law. The total amount of leave available under the FMLA (e.g., 12 weeks or 26 weeks) would still be available to the employee

Note: The above is excerpted from our FMLA Training & Certification Program.

Recommended Training For Arizona's FMLA Requirements

From seminars to webinars to online courses, HRTrainingCenter offers a variety of FMLA compliance training courses. Simply select one of our 'Recommended Courses' or use the search box to find your desired FMLA training course.

• Certificate Program In FMLA, ADA, Compliance
• FMLA Training & Certification Program
• How To Identify And Investigate FMLA Abuse
• Integrating FMLA, ADA, COBRA, And Workers' Compensation Training & Certification Program

To find other FMLA training courses, use the search box below.