Arizona Labor Laws

In Arizona, employers with 15 or more workers are prohibited from discriminating in hiring based on personal characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or disability under the Arizona Civil Rights Act.

Furthermore, the Act prohibits employers from limiting employment opportunities, terminating employment, offering unfair pay, imposing poor working conditions, or classifying and segregating job applicants and working employees in ways that harm their employment status. 

The state also establishes an equal pay rate to prohibit variations in pay for the same job based on gender. Both male and female workers are entitled to receive equal compensation for the same job, assuming their work quality and quantity are the same.

Arizona law follows the at-will employment policy, which means an employer or employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, without notice or cause. However, this principle does not apply to employees with a written contract or agreement specifying the duration of employment or the terms of termination. Moreover, state law prohibits terminations based on discrimination against an employee based on protected characteristics. 

Arizona is also a right-to-work state. This means that workers in Arizona cannot be required to join or leave a labor union or pay any dues as a condition of employment. 

After termination of employment in Arizona, an employee must be paid their final wages by their next regularly scheduled payday or within seven days —whichever occurs first. Workers employed in school districts must be paid within ten days of termination. 

However, if an employee resigns, their final wages should be paid by their next regularly scheduled payday.

Some key employment laws that protect workers in Arizona include: 

• Whistleblower Protection Laws: In Arizona, public sector employees are protected from retaliation, termination, and discrimination if they report any violation of law, mismanagement of state funds, or abuse of authority. Private sector employees are protected by the state only when they refuse to violate or report violations of Arizona law.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing Laws: Arizona labor law allows employers to conduct drug and alcohol testing, provided they have a clear policy in place. Employees must be aware of the testing policy and any changes that may occur. Employees also have the right to request confidentiality in case of a positive test result. 
• Workers’ Compensation Laws: Employees in Arizona can receive medical and compensation benefits in case of workplace injuries, no matter the reason for the accident. For work-related injuries, an employee can also receive temporary wages for time taken off from work, additional benefits, and rehabilitation services. 
• Data Security Laws: Employers in Arizona who believe their data has been breached are mandated by law to report to relevant authorities within 45 days of the incident. For information breaches affecting more than 1000 people, the employer must report to three of the largest national consumer reporting agencies, the Arizona Department of Homeland Security, and the attorney general. 
• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: Employees who lose their health insurance coverage due to job loss, reduction of hours, or other qualifying events such as death or divorce can continue their group health benefits for up to 36 months under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Only employers with 20 or more workers are required to offer COBRA. However, the worker may be required to pay 102% of the plan’s cost as a premium. Small businesses in Arizona — with fewer than 20 employees — can offer continued health insurance with Mini-COBRA. Mini-COBRA provides former employees with continued access to health coverage from their former employer for up to 18 months following termination, and an additional 11 months in case of disability. 
• Polygraph Test Laws: An employer cannot use the results of a polygraph test without supporting evidence to discipline an employee in Arizona. The results of such tests must be kept confidential and should be used for the purpose the test was administered. 
• Recordkeeping Laws: Under Arizona’s minimum wage laws, employers are mandated to keep payroll records that display employees’ work hours and paid wages — including basic time and earning cards or sheets, wage rate tables, records of additions to or deductions from wages paid, and any written agreement allowing credit calculations towards minimum wage — for four years. Additionally, the FLSA requires employers to maintain employee identification records for at least three years.

Arizona’s minimum wage stands at $14.70 per hour as of January 1, 2025. This amount must be paid for all hours worked by an employee, regardless of payment frequency and whether the employee is hourly, salaried, commissioned, or a piece-rate worker. 

Arizona’s minimum wage laws apply to all full-time, part-time, and temporary employees in the state. Minors in Arizona are entitled to the same minimum wage as adults. 

Tipped employees in Arizona — workers who regularly receive tips or gratuities — can be paid $3.00 less than minimum wage as per state law. 

In 2025, a tipped worker in Arizona must be paid at least $11.70 per hour. 

However, employers must maintain accurate wage records for tipped employees, which prove that their weekly earnings — reduced hourly wage and tips combined — are equal to the state-mandated minimum wage. 

If a tipped worker’s cash wage and tips do not equal the state-mandated minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. 

Not all workers in Arizona are entitled to the state’s minimum wage. Exceptions include:

• Casual babysitters
• Employees working for a parent or sibling 
• Employees of the Arizona or federal government
• Employees working in small businesses grossing less than $500,000 yearly, with certain conditions

Note that these exemptions exist to accommodate unique working arrangements and small business operations. However, check with local authorities to confirm if state minimum wage provisions apply to your business.   

Arizona wage laws require employers to pay employees at least twice a month, with no more than a 16-day gap between each payout. Wages must be promptly paid within five days after the end of the pay period. 

Employers whose main business operations or centralized payroll are located outside of Arizona can establish one or more fixed paydays per month for professional, executive, administrative, and supervisory employees.  

In Arizona, overtime pay is regulated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the Act, any hours worked over 40 in a week are considered overtime. An employee must be paid additional wages calculated at 1.5 times their regular hourly wage for all hours worked overtime. 

Arizona does not have a daily overtime limit.

Certain occupations in Arizona are not eligible to receive overtime pay, even if they work more than 40 hours a week. These workers are categorized as ‘exempt employees’ under the FLSA. 

Along with a job duties test, such employees must earn at least $684 per week (or $35,568 annually) to be considered exempt from overtime pay. This includes employees working as:

• Executive, administrative, and professional workers
• Commissioned sales workers
• Computer professionals,
• Drivers and their helpers
• Mechanics, salesmen, and partsmen
• Outside salespersons
• Seasonal and recreational establishment workers
• Farmworkers

There are no specific break laws in Arizona; employers in the state can offer meal or rest breaks at their discretion. However, if an employee chooses to offer breaks in Arizona, they must follow the general guidelines established by the FLSA. 

Employers must pay for breaks that are 20 minutes or less. Breaks that exceed 30 minutes are typically unpaid, unless the employee is required to be on duty during that time.

Employees cannot extend a break period without notifying their employer. Any unauthorized extension of a break is not considered work hours and can be punishable. 

In Arizona, breastfeeding breaks in the workplace are mandated under the FLSA. Employers are required to provide nursing employees with reasonably timed breaks to express milk or breastfeed as per the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act). 

The PUMP Act also requires employers to arrange a private, shielded nursing room — that is not a bathroom. This room must be free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.

These breaks must be provided up to one year after the birth of a child. Additionally, nursing employees must be allowed to bring their own cooler or personal container to store breast milk. 

Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from providing breastfeeding breaks if the provision of break facilities poses an undue hardship to the business.

In Arizona, employees are entitled to certain leave benefits under state leave laws, including: 

• Parental Leave: Employers with 50 or more workers in Arizona must provide workers 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employees can use this leave to care for a newborn, adopted, or foster child. 
• Sick Leave: Arizona requires employers to offer their employees paid sick leave. This leave can be used to care for personal illness or a sick family member, to recover from injury, for psychological counseling, and more. Paid sick leave accrual is determined by the size of the company. Employees in companies with 15 or more workers can accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work, with a maximum of 40 hours accrued annually. Workers employed in smaller organizations accrue one hour of paid leave per 30 hours of work as well, however, they can only accrue up to 24 hours annually.  If an employer in Arizona already offers paid sick leave that fulfills the conditions of state policy, they are not required to provide additional leave.
• Jury Duty Leave: Employees in Arizona can take unpaid leave to serve on a jury. Employers are prohibited from denying permission to or retaliating against a worker who serves as a juror. Furthermore, employers cannot require an employee to use accrued annual, vacation, or sick leave to attend jury duty. 
• Voting Leave: Employees can take paid leave to vote in Arizona if they have less than three consecutive hours before the beginning or after the end of the shift to vote.  Workers are required to inform their employer about their absence to allow room for leave scheduling. 
• Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Leave: Arizona employers with 50 or more employees must grant unpaid leave to employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Employees can use this leave to attend criminal proceedings or obtain an order of protection. They can also use accrued vacation, personal, or sick leave for this purpose.
• Military Leave: Arizona’s military leave law mandates that public employers grant military leave to members of the National Guard and Military Reserve Components without any loss of vacation days, seniority, or opportunities for promotion.

In addition to every Sunday being a public holiday, the following is a list of official holidays that will be observed in Arizona in 2025.

Under Arizona law, any individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor. The minimum age of employment in the state is 14. 

Work Permits for Minors in Arizona

In Arizona, there is no requirement for work permits or written parental consent for minors under 18 to be employed. However, employers must maintain any legal document that proves the minor’s age.

Working hours for minors aged under 16 are restricted in Arizona. During the school year, they can work only three hours a day on school days and eight hours on non-school days. Weekly work hours cannot exceed 18. 

Hours can only be scheduled between 6:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Minors can work till 11:00 p.m. if school is not scheduled the next day. 

When school is not in session — or the minor is not enrolled in school— minors under 16 can work eight hours a day for a total of 40 hours a week. However, they cannot be scheduled to work before 6 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on school days 

In Arizona, minors  under 18 are not permitted to work in or around hazardous industries or environments, including:

State law allows 16-17-year-olds to drive under strict limits — maximum two hours a day, or 25% of work time, and under 50 miles only. Federal law prohibits job-related driving altogether.

Minors aged 15 and under are prohibited from employment in the following: