AZ Legislators are Flailing at Vaccine Mandates

 


Legislators in the Arizona House are pushing a law that would punish businesses that fire workers for refusing vaccine mandates. The bill is only 16 lines long, and the main part says:

Notwithstanding any other law, an employee who is terminated for not receiving a covid-19 vaccine as a condition of employment shall receive either of the following: (1) Severance compensation paid by an employer in the amount of the employee's annual salary in one lump sum or installment payments over twelve months. (2) Reemployment with the employer at the same or similar position held on the date the employee was terminated and a reasonable accommodation provided by the employer to the employee.

So basically if you require your employees to be vaccinated and they refuse, then if you fire them you have to pay them one year's salary as severance. The bill is retroactive to last November.

This is obviously an anti-vax measure. I suppose they think it's necessary because the governor's attempts to ban local governments from requiring vaccinations have been unsuccessful. 

But the thing is, this law is so broad it applies to any entity that has employees. So it encompasses not only local governments but also private businesses including small businesses and health care employers.

The legislature is normally at great pains to insulate business them from government interference. That they are disregarding this conservative first-principle shows that this vaccine situation is making them so crazy they are flailing with their legislation.

I'm not the only one who thinks this. Private businesses are objecting to the bill. Courtney Coolidge with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce pointed out:

Arizona is an at-will state. Private businesses have the right to set policies for the workplace. Workplace environments, as you know, vary significantly and private businesses are in the best position to implement policy that best serve needs of employees and operations.

At-will employment is a principle that is established in law. So it may be that this bill, if it passes and is signed into law, will be found unconstitutional. Of course, constitutionality is a factor the legislature frequently fails to take into consideration.

As for health care organizations, even Gov. Ducey exempted them from his last anti-vax executive order. There is no such exemption in this bill (so far). And remember that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Biden administration order that mandates vaccinations for health care workers. 

So this legislation, if it passes, will leave health care organizations taking federal funds between a rock and a hard place. Right on!  Let's abuse our health care providers some more!  

This is what happens when legislators make laws based on emotion rather than careful consideration of policy.

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