Amongst the flurry of other recent executive orders and administrative directives during his first 30 days in office, President Joseph R. Biden signed an executive order seeking to eliminate gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, and various overlapping forms of discrimination on the basis of multiple protected classes, in federal government departments and agencies.  This executive order closely follows on the heels of the Supreme Court’s June 15, 2020, decisions in the Bostock-Zarda-Harris trio of cases, ruling that Title VII of

As with every new year in Arizona, new resolutions should include wage adjustments as required by law.  Even with the global pandemic, these statutory increases continue.  Under Arizona’s minimum wage law, the state-mandated minimum wage increases from $12.00 to $12.15 effective January 1, 2021.  Arizona employers may continue to take a tip credit for tipped employees where permitted by federal law, up to a maximum of $3.00 per hour.  Several cities, towns, and other local jurisdictions within Arizona have their own

Arizona voters recently approved Proposition 207 – also known as the “Smart and Safe Arizona Act” – which largely decriminalizes marijuana possession and use for those who are at least 21 years old, establishes a framework for regulating the sale and possession of marijuana, and imposes excise taxes on recreational marijuana.    Although marijuana was previously authorized under Arizona law for medical purposes, recreational use was prohibited until the passage of this new law. Arizona now joins nine other states to authorize recreational marijuana

Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful for a covered employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual… because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”  For a number of years, both courts and employers have grappled with the question of whether Title VII extends protections to LGBTQ employees.  In a landmark decision issued on January 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court answered in the affirmative,

The Department of Labor (DOL) has provided us with regulations governing the application of the small business exemption for both the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (FMLA Expansion Act) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (Paid Sick Leave Act).  Under both enactments, employers with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt, but only if they meet the specific criteria established by the DOL.  The DOL’s newly-crafted regulations require small employers to meet one of