Proposition 206 or the healthy working family’s initiative passed November 8, 2016 with 59% of Arizonian’s voting yes for the proposition.

Proposition 206 immediately raised the Arizona state minimum wage to $10.00 an hour and built in automatic annual increases with the minimum wage increasing to $10.50 in 2018, $11.00 in 2019, and $12.00 in 2020. Annual adjustments will be calculated based on the cost of living after 2020.

In addition to an annual increase in the minimum wage, Proposition 206 also mandated that all employers provide their employees with paid sick leave. For employers with more than 15 employees, each employee is to be paid one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with a maximum 40 hours paid sick leave annually. For employers with less than 15 employees, the maximum accrual is 24 hours per year. The act also requires employers to provide additional reporting to their employees of their accrued sick time.

Proposition 206 was challenged on a number of different constitutional issues, but the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Act as constitutional.

Employers should note that the penalties for non-compliance with the mandates of Proposition 206 can be costly.

Click here now and one of our paralegals will call to set up an appointment for you with one of our attorneys, to further discuss Proposition 206 and what it means for your business.