Labor & Employment (Labor Standards)

HB 2488 requires Arizona employers with 100+ warehouse employees at a single site (or 500+ across sites) to provide written descriptions of all quotas to affected workers. These descriptions must explain the quota’s requirements, potential negative job consequences for not meeting it, and associated incentives, all in plain language. The bill prohibits quotas measuring work speed in intervals shorter than a day, ranking employees against each other, or preventing compliance with meal/rest breaks. Employers must also maintain records of work speed data and quota descriptions for three years and include time for bathroom breaks, rest periods, and safety activities as non-productive time in quota calculations. This directly affects warehouse workers subject to productivity quotas and their employers.

This bill, if approved by Arizona voters, would increase the state's minimum wage to $12 per hour starting January 1, 2020, with annual inflation adjustments beginning in 2028 based on the consumer price index. It would allow employers to pay tipped workers a base wage up to $3 less per hour than the minimum wage if tips make up the difference, but this exception would end on January 1, 2030, requiring full minimum wage payment for all workers thereafter. The measure directly affects Arizona workers, particularly low-wage and tipped employees, and aims to provide a wage floor that rises with living costs.

HB 2928 establishes heat illness prevention standards for employers in high-risk industries like agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas, airport work, and delivery services. It requires employers to provide free drinking water with ice (and electrolytes for work over an hour above 80°F), shade or climate-controlled rest areas within 400 feet of work zones when temperatures exceed 80°F, and paid rest periods (15-45 minutes per hour) based on heat levels. Employers must also monitor workers for heat symptoms, implement emergency response protocols, and hold pre-shift safety meetings for agricultural workers. These rules, to be adopted by Arizona’s Industrial Commission, apply to all indoor and outdoor workplaces in covered industries to protect workers from heat-related health risks.