10 Key Questions About Leave Laws in Arizona

April 25th 2025

Navigating the complexities of employee leave laws is crucial for Arizona employers to ensure compliance and maintain a fair workplace. While the law mandates some types of leave, others are at the employer’s discretion.

This complex mix of required leave, federal overlaps (like the FMLA), and optional benefits can be challenging to navigate. This article addresses ten key questions about leave laws in Arizona to provide clarity on employer obligations and employee rights.

This Guide Covers

1. What are the leave laws in Arizona?

Arizona’s multifaceted leave laws are based on state mandates like EPST and federal laws like FMLA. The law mandates several types of employee leave, such as earned paid sick time (EPST), FMLA, jury duty, voting, military, and crime victim leaves.

Optional leave benefits mostly depend on company policies. These include vacation, holiday, and bereavement leaves.

Explore Arizona leave laws in detail.

2. What are the different types of leave available in Arizona?

Arizona recognizes several types of leave, including mandatory and non-mandatory leaves. Mandatory leaves in Arizona include:

  • Earned Paid Sick Time (EPST): Employers in Arizona must provide employees paid sick leave for accrual and use up to 40 hours/year for employers with 15+ employees and 24 hours/year for smaller employers. Employees can accrue one hour of EPST per 30 hours worked and use it for personal/family health needs or reasons related to domestic/sexual violence.
  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for eligible employees at covered employers for qualifying family and medical reasons. FMLA also gives up to 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave to care for a covered servicemember.
  • Jury Duty Leave: Employers in Arizona must provide unpaid, job-protected leave for jury service and cannot require employees to use other leave types. Employees will not lose seniority when they return from jury duty.
  • Voting Leave: Employees in Arizona receive paid leave of up to three hours if the employee’s work schedule doesn’t allow a three-hour window to vote while polls are open. They need to apply for voting leave before the day of the election.
  • Military Leave: Arizona employees are entitled to job-protected leave for military service obligations under state and federal law (USERRA). Officers and state employees must be paid as prescribed in section 38-610, subsection C, paragraph 3, for this leave of absence.
  • Crime Victim Leave: Arizona employers with 50+ employees must provide unpaid, job-protected leave for crime victims to attend related court proceedings.
  • Domestic Violence Leave: Domestic violence victims can leverage EPST and crime victim leave for related court proceedings.
  • Organ/Bone Marrow Donation Leave: State employees in Arizona receive paid leave for up to five work days to serve as a bone marrow donor and up to 30 work days to serve as an organ donor.

Though not required by Arizona labor laws, some employers also offer certain non-mandatory or optional leaves based on their company policy. These include paid or unpaid time off for:

  • Vacation leave
  • Holiday leave
  • Bereavement leave

3. What is the earned paid sick time (EPST) law in Arizona?

Arizona’s Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act mandates that employers provide earned paid sick time (EPST) to their employees. This law ensures workers can take paid time off for specific health and safety reasons concerning themselves or to care for a family member.

Under this law, Arizona employees accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. However, there is a limit on the number of sick leave hours an employee can use in a year, depending on their employer’s company size.

  • Employees can use up to 40 hours of earned paid sick time per year if they work for an employer with 15 or more employees.
  • Employees can use up to 24 hours of earned paid sick time per year if they work for an employer with fewer than 15 employees.

4. Who is eligible for EPST in Arizona?

Nearly all employees in Arizona, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees, are covered by the EPST law. They begin accruing one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting from July 1, 2017, or their employment date (whichever comes later).

Learn more about your rights as a salaried employee in Arizona and an hourly employee’s rights in Arizona.

5. Will employees in Arizona get paid while on leave?

Whether Arizona employees get paid during leave depends entirely on the type of leave and their employer’s leave policy.

Arizona employees get paid while on leave for earned paid sick time (EPST) and for up to three hours for time to vote. State employees also get paid for leave of absence during military service.

Arizona law does not require employers to pay employees for time spent on jury duty, crime victim leave, vacation, or bereavement leave. Similarly, FMLA leave is unpaid.

However, some employers in Arizona may choose to offer paid time off to boost employee satisfaction and foster a positive work culture. This entirely depends on the employer’s policy.

6. How long is a leave of absence in Arizona?

The duration of a leave of absence in Arizona depends entirely on the type of leave an employee takes and the governing laws or employer policies.

  • Family and Medical Leave (FMLA): Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within 12 months or up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave
  • Earned Paid Sick Time (EPST): Up to 24 or 40 hours of paid sick time per year, depending on the employer’s size
  • Voting Leave: Up to three hours at the beginning or end of an employee’s work shift to ensure a three-consecutive-hour window for voting
  • Jury Duty Leave: Lasts for the duration required for jury service
  • Military Leave: Duration depends on the length of the military orders or service requirement
  • Crime Victim Leave: Leave lasts for the time necessary to attend relevant court proceedings or seek protective orders

7. What happens to your benefits while you’re on leave in Arizona?

While on leave in Arizona, benefits continuation depends on the type of leave and employer policies.

To maintain insurance coverage while on FMLA leave, an employee will need to continue to make any normal contributions to the cost of health insurance premiums. Other benefits, like life insurance and retirement plans, are generally reinstated upon the employee’s return from leave.

Employees receive the same pay rate and health care benefits while they are on their earned paid sick time (EPST) in Arizona.

If the leave is paid, such as paid voting leave or optional paid vacation or holiday, covered in the employer’s policy, the benefits usually continue uninterrupted.

It is crucial to check how an employer’s leave policies handle benefits while an employee is on any type of leave, especially unpaid leaves.

8. Are there specific recordkeeping requirements for Arizona employers regarding leave?

Yes. For EPST, employers in Arizona must keep records for at least four years showing hours worked, EPST accrued, and EPST used per employee.

FMLA also mandates employers to do specific recordkeeping.

9. What happens when an employer violates leave laws in Arizona?

In Arizona, employers who violate leave laws, such as those related to sick leave, voting leave, or FMLA, can face fines, penalties, and legal action.

For FMLA violations, employees can file complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

For violations of earned paid sick time, employees can file complaints with the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Labor Department. It will then investigate and take legal action against the employer, including court orders for payment of unpaid wages and sick time, according to the Arizona Legislature.

Violating voting leave laws in Arizona is a class 2 misdemeanor, whereas jury duty leave violation is a class 3 misdemeanor and can lead to penalties.

10. Can you quit your job while on leave in Arizona?

Yes, in Arizona, an employee can generally quit their job while on leave.

Arizona is an “at-will” employment state, which means that an employee can leave their job at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, unless there is an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement that states otherwise.

This principle of at-will employment extends to situations where an employee is on a leave of absence. However, the specific type of leave may have implications regarding the continuation of benefits or other aspects of employment after quitting.

Important Cautionary Note

This content is for informational purposes only. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, we cannot guarantee that it is free of errors or omissions. Users must independently verify any critical information and should not solely rely on the content provided.