February 13, 2015

AZ Senate Committee Passes Piece Rate Bill

Earlier this week, the Arizona Senate Commerce Committee passed SB 1061 on a 7-1 vote. This legislation, sponsored by Sen. Gail Griffin at the request of Western Growers, would expressly permit common piece rate compensation practices in Arizona that have come under attack in other states.

Specifically, SB 1061 would permit piece wage and commission earnings to be combined to compensate employees for all productive and non-productive hours worked in a pay period for purposes of meeting the minimum wage obligation.‎ Western Growers is seeking to codify this definition to protect our members’ and their employees’ rights to engage in lawful piece rate compensation practices and preempt legal challenges experienced recently in California and Washington.