Sec. 17-77. Limitation of liabilities.

   (a)   Nothing in this article shall be interpreted to contravene the general laws of the State of Arizona.

   (b)   Nothing in this article shall be construed to create additional legal liabilities greater than those already existing under law or to create new private causes of action.

   (c)   By maintaining records provided by civil union partners pursuant to this article, including the statement or list of documents as described in section 17-73(e) and the statement of shared intent as described in section 17-73(f), the city does not make any representation or warranty that such documents, records or stated intentions are legally enforceable or valid.

(Ord. No. 9898, § 1, 9-15-03; Ord. No. 11088, § 1, 6-18-13, eff. 7-19-13)

Sec. 17-78. Public Records.

   The statement of civil union, the civil union certificate and all documents provided to the city by civil union partners pursuant to this article shall be treated as a public record pursuant to the laws of the State of Arizona and shall be subject to disclosure upon request.

(Ord. No. 11088, § 2, 6-18-13, eff. 7-19-13)

Sec. 17-79. Reserved.

ARTICLE X. MINIMUM WAGE ACT

Sec. 17-80. Title and purpose.

   This article shall be known and may be cited as "The Tucson Minimum Wage Act".

   The city, by this article, regulates the minimum wages and benefits within its geographic boundaries, as authorized by the Raise the Arizona Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act.

(Ord. No. 11868, 8-10-21)

Sec. 17-81. Definitions.

   As used in this article:

   (1)   "Adverse action" includes, but is not limited to, demoting, terminating, failing to rehire after a seasonal interruption of work, engaging in unfair immigration-related practices, filing a false report with a government agency, changing an employee's status to that of an independent contractor, or threatening to do any of the aforementioned things during or after an employee's employment relationship with an employer.

   (2)   "Aggrieved party" means an employee, former employee, worker for hire, or former worker for hire who alleges violations of this article.

   (3)   "Department" means the city department of labor standards created by this article.

   (4)   "Director" means the director of the city department of labor standards.

   (5)   "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work, except that:

      a.   A franchisor is not an employer of an employee of a franchisee except under circumstances allowed by state law;

      b.   An owner of a mark is not an employer of an employee of the licensee, except under circumstances allowed by state law; and

      c.   A qualified marketplace platform is not an employer of a qualified marketplace contractor.

   (6)   "Employee" means any individual employed by an employer and who, in a workweek, performs at least five (5) hours of work for the employer within the geographic boundaries of the city. The term includes individuals employed on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis, and individuals engaged through an employment or staffing agency, except that an individual who performs only babysitting services at an employer's home on a casual basis is not an employee.

   (7)   "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, joint venture, nonprofit organization, or other entity acting directly or indirectly in the interest of any employer in relation to an employee and includes the city, the county, and any taxing district organized under state law, but does not include the state, the United States, or a tribal entity.

   (8)   "Hiring entity" means any person, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, joint venture, nonprofit organization, or other entity, that does not satisfy the definition of employer in relation to a particular individual and who enters into a written or verbal contract with such individual to perform labor or services within the geographic boundaries of the city in consideration for remuneration under circumstances in which the individual is properly treated as a worker for hire. The term does not include the state, the United States, a tribal entity, a qualified marketplace platform, or a person who hires an individual only for babysitting services at the person's home on a casual basis. A franchisor is not the hiring entity in relation to an individual whose labor or services were retained by a franchisee.

   (9)   "Individual" means natural person.

   (10)   "Interested party" means any nonprofit organization organized in part to protect the rights of workers, or any subset of workers, and has at least one member within the city.

   (11)   "Large employer" means an employer that employed, on average, twenty-six (26) or more employees during the final quarter of the previous calendar year, including part-time employees, temporary employees, and those employees located outside the city. For the purposes of this definition, multiple entities shall be considered a single employer if deemed to be a single integrated enterprise under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

   (12)   "Minimum wage" is measured on the basis of a workweek and is the minimum wage rate set by section 17-82 of this article.

   (13)   "Qualified marketplace contractor" and "qualified marketplace platform" have the same meanings as provided in state law.

   (14)   "Rate of inflation" means the increase in the consumer price index (all items consumer price index for all urban consumers for the U.S. city average), or its successor index, as published by the U.S. department of labor, for the twelve (12) month period ending in August of each year.

   (15)   "Tip" means a verifiable sum presented by a customer as a gift or voluntary gratuity in recognition of some service performed for or on behalf of the customer.

   (16)   "Tipped employee" means an employee who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty ($30.00) dollars per week in tips, has been informed by the employer in writing about the tip requirements of this article, retains all tips received, and whose total compensation (the sum of wages and tips) is not less than the minimum wage.

    (17)   "Working time" is the compensable time that an employer is required by this article to pay an employee not less than the minimum wage and includes time that an employer requires the employee to undergo a security screening immediately prior to or following a work shift; to be on the employer's premises; to be at a prescribed work site; or to be logged in and actively attentive to an employer-provided computer program, phone application, or similar device.

   (18)   "Worker for hire" means any individual who, in a workweek:

      a.   Provides to or on behalf of a hiring entity at least five (5) hours of labor or services within the geographic boundaries of the city in consideration for remuneration;

      b.   Does not satisfy the definition of employee as related to that hiring entity;

      c.   Is not a qualified marketplace contractor; and

      d.   Whose hiring entity is unable to demonstrate that the following factors apply to the individual: 1) the individual is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work; 2) the individual performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business; and 3) the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed for the hiring entity.

   (19)   "Workweek" means seven (7) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour periods that equal one hundred sixty-eight (168) total hours. The start time of a workweek may be chosen by the employer.

(Ord. No. 11868, 8-10-21)

Sec. 17-82. Minimum wage rate.

   (a)   The minimum wage for all employees and workers for hire shall be:

   (1)   Thirteen dollars ($13.00) an hour on and after April 1, 2022;

    (2)   Thirteen dollars fifty cents ($13.50) an hour on and after January 1, 2023;

   (3)   Fourteen dollars twenty-five cents ($14.25) an hour on and after January 1, 2024;

   (4)   Fifteen dollars ($15.00) an hour on and after January 1, 2025;

   (5)   On January 1, 2026 and on each January 1 thereafter, an hourly amount that is increased by the rate of inflation multiplied by the minimum wage on December 31 of the previous year rounded to the nearest multiple of five cents ($0.05).

   (b)   If the federal minimum wage or state minimum wage is increased above the minimum wage provided for in this section, the minimum wage under this section will be increased to match the higher wage and will become the new minimum wage under this section on the same date that such higher federal or state minimum wage becomes effective. The adjustment described in subsection (a)(5) will continue on the following year.

   (c)   Tips regularly and actually received by a tipped employee may be applied by an employer to offset the employer's minimum wage obligation to a tipped employee, except that no more than three dollars ($3.00) per hour may be so applied. This section shall not be construed to prevent a tip pool arrangement, but an employer, owner, supervisor, or manager shall not participate in a tip pool arrangement.

(Ord. No. 11868, 8-10-21)