Court ruling may necessitate overhaul of paid sick time policies, practices

The Arizona Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act requires all employers to provide a certain amount of paid sick time (PST) depending on the number of employees. Employers with at least 15 employees must provide at least 40 hours of PST to employees each year. The act also requires employers to follow certain notice requirements, including posting the Earned Paid Sick Time Poster and providing employees with pay stubs that include the amount of PST available, the amount already taken, and the amount of pay received as sick time. Even if employees exhaust PST, employers must be cautious when taking any adverse employment action within 90 days of their last use of PST. An Arizona Court of Appeals case highlights the importance of implementing and following a comprehensive PST policy.

Facts of the case

Joshua Papias worked for a manufacturing company, which had implemented policies on PST, paid time off (PTO), and attendance. Its employment practices deviated from these policies in several respects. For example, the policy stated that Papias could use PST for limited reasons, but he was permitted to use PST for reasons beyond permissible uses. He was also paid more than his allotted PST. In his second year, he continued to request time off without explicitly indicating it was for sick time, yet his employer classified the hours as PST.