Arizona’s Fair and Legal Employment Act
August 17th, 2007Although there are no specific updates to the impending changes to the way Arizona employers will have to verify employment eligibility, there are perplexing follows to the bill.
Shortly after the law was signed into effect, a press release from Governor Janet Napolitano, which captures her agreement that the bill contains numerous flaws that seek to harm legitimate and necessary Arizona employers.
According to the press release, Napolitano will call a special congressional session to address the following critical errors with regard to Arizona’s Fair and Legal Employment Act:
- The bill should protect critical infrastructure. Hospitals, nursing homes and power plants could be shut down for days because of a single wrongful employment decision.
- The revocation provision is overbroad, and could cause a business with multiple locations to face shutdown of its entire operation based on an infraction that occurred at only one location.
- The bill is under funded. Even though the Attorney General’s office must establish an entirely new database and must investigate complaints statewide, only $100,000 is appropriated for that purpose. Only $70,000 is appropriated to notify employers of the change in the law.
- There is no expressed provision protecting Arizona citizens or legal residents from discrimination under the terms of this bill.
- There is even a typo that has to be fixed. The bill cites the wrong portion of a federal law.
Likely, the session will bring about a set of emergency rules that will be interim law while the full bill is analyzed, challenged, redrafted, amended and finally approved.
For additional information or periodic updates, do not hesitate to contact National PEO’s Human Resources team.
