Purpose

Requires an employer who provides employee sick leave to allow employees to use accrued sick leave to care for an ill child, parent or spouse.

Background

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons. Under these laws, family leave is defined as leave taken to care for the serious health condition of a parent, spouse or child.

The Arizona American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AZ AFL-CIO) indicates that many workers are excluded under FMLA, such as those in businesses with fewer than 50 employees, and many cannot afford to take advantage of unpaid leave without any financial support. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 32 states have laws making family leave more affordable through family leave benefits, such as allowing employees to use their own sick leave for family medical needs, allowing people on unpaid leave to qualify for unemployment compensation and allowing people on leave to collect state disability insurance. Currently, six states have paid (either elective or mandatory) family leave benefits laws including: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Hawaii, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

In Arizona, employers may allow employees to use accumulated sick leave to care for ill family members. Employers who do not allow sick leave to be used for family purposes may require employees to use other paid leave, such as vacation time, or to take leave without pay. According to the AZ AFL-CIO, the ability to use sick leave for family purposes is becoming important to an increasing number of workers who are responsible for caring for elderly parents, often while caring for young children. Such organizations have expressed concerns about the need to help those workers balance their work and caregiver responsibilities by providing some financial support so they can be with their families when they need to be. S.B. 1090 addresses this issue by requiring employers who offer paid sick leave to allow employees to use this time to care for an ill family member. During the Forty-fifth Legislature, First Regular Session, an identical bill, S.B. 1417, failed to pass in the Commerce Committee with a vote of 2-4-0.

According to Joint Legislative Budget Committee staff, the fiscal impact of this bill to the state general fund is associated with a possible increase in annual leave pay-out when an individual leaves state employment. However, this increase could be offset by a possible decrease in sick pay-out at an individual’s retirement.

Provisions

1. Requires employers who provide employee sick leave to allow employees to use the sick leave to attend to an ill child, parent or spouse, subject to employers’ conditions or restrictions.

2. Prohibits employers from denying employees the right to use any sick leave and from taking action against an employee who uses or attempts to use sick leave to attend to an ill child, parent or spouse. If an employer violates these conditions, an employee may pursue civil action against an employer to recover damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees.

3. Stipulates that the maximum period of leave that employees are entitled to under FMLA is not extended, and that employees’ rights to use sick leave for family care purposes are in addition to any other contractual or statutory rights and remedies.

4. Defines terms.

5. Provides for a general effective date.

Prepared by Senate Staff

January 21, 2002

Assigned to FS & COM FOR COMMITTEE

Purpose