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REFERENCE TITLE: employer communications; religious; political beliefs |
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State of Arizona Senate Forty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session 2010
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SB 1231 |
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Introduced by Senators Burton Cahill, Lopez: Aboud, Garcia, Hale, Rios; Representatives Ableser, Lopes
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AN ACT
AMENDING TITLE 23, CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 1, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES, BY ADDING SECTION 23-204; RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 23, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-204, to read:
23-204. Employer communication about politics or religion; violations; exceptions; definitions
A. An employer or an employer's designee shall not require any employee to attend a meeting sponsored by the employer or to participate in any communication with the employer that has a primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion about religious or political matters. If an employer is required by another law to communicate a religious or political matter to an employee, the employer may communicate that religious or political matter to the employee.
B. An employee may report a violation of this section to the industrial commission. An employer or an employer's designee shall not discharge, discipline or penalize or threaten to discharge, discipline or penalize any employee who makes a good faith report that an employer has violated this section.
C. An employee who is aggrieved by reason of a violation of this section may file an action in superior court within ninety days of the alleged violation to enforce this section. The court may award a prevailing employee appropriate relief, including rehiring of the employee to the employee's former position, any lost wages and reestablishment of any employee benefits. The court shall award a prevailing employee treble damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees.
D. This section shall not be construed to limit an employee's right to bring a common law cause of action against an employer for wrongful termination or to impair the rights of a person under a collective bargaining agreement.
E. This section does not prohibit:
1. A religious organization from requiring its employees to attend a meeting or participate in communications with the employer that has a primary purpose of communicating the employer's religious beliefs, practices or tenets.
2. A political organization from requiring its employees to attend a meeting or participate in communications with the employer that has a primary purpose of communicating the employer's political tenets or purposes.
3. An educational institution from requiring student instructors to attend lectures on political or religious matters that are part of the regular course work at the institution.
F. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Employee" means any person who performs services for an employer under a contract of employment either made in this state or to be performed wholly or partly in this state.
2. "Employer" means a person or entity that employs at least two or more employees, including this state and any political subdivision of this state.
3. "Labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment or other conditions of employment.
4. "Political Matters" includes political party affiliation or the decision to join or not to join any lawful, political, social or community group, activity or labor organization.