Arizona Paid Sick Time Law: What the Fair Wages Act Requires

The Arizona paid sick time law gives nearly every private-sector worker in the state a right most people don’t realize is baked into every job by default. Under A.R.S. §§ 23-371 to 23-381, the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act requires paid sick time accrual starting an employee’s very first day. No minimum company size exempts an employer from the requirement entirely. Company size only changes how much time an employee can bank each year.

How the Arizona paid sick time law calculates accrual

Employees earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting on day one. Salaried employees exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act get treated as working 40 hours a week for accrual purposes. That’s true unless their normal schedule runs shorter than that. Accrual never depends on employer size. The annual cap does change with size, though. Employers with 15 or more employees cap usage at 40 hours a year. Smaller employers cap it at 24 hours. Employers can require a 90-day waiting period before new hires actually use accrued time. The time keeps accruing during that wait regardless.

Who actually falls outside the law’s coverage

The statute’s definition of “employer” is broad. It covers corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and other business structures. Only two entities sit outside coverage entirely: the State of Arizona and the U.S. federal government. Independent contractors aren’t covered, since the law only applies to employees. But full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers all qualify. That surprises many part-time and gig-adjacent workers who assume sick time is a full-time-only benefit.

What the law actually lets employees use sick time for

A.R.S. § 23-373 defines qualifying reasons beyond an employee’s own illness or injury. Caring for a family member’s health condition qualifies. So do absences during a declared public health emergency. Time needed because of domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking qualifies too. That last category, sometimes called safe leave, covers things like obtaining medical care, relocating, or preparing for related legal proceedings. Employers who limit paid sick time to only the employee’s own illness are applying a narrower policy than the statute actually requires.

Sick time doesn’t disappear at year’s end

Vacation time can lawfully run use-it-or-lose-it, if the employer’s policy says so clearly. Earned sick time under this law works differently. It has to carry over year to year. An employer can cap how much an employee uses in a given year at the statutory maximum. But simply wiping out an unused balance at year’s end isn’t compliant.

What happens when an employer gets it wrong

A.R.S. § 23-374 prohibits retaliation against an employee for using or requesting earned sick time. Some employer handbooks still describe sick days as discretionary, or subject to manager approval. That policy conflicts with the statute regardless of what the handbook says. Existing PTO policies can satisfy the law instead of running a separate sick-time bank. But that only works if the PTO bank meets or exceeds the statutory cap, and covers the full range of qualifying reasons the statute lists, safe leave included.

The bottom line

The Arizona paid sick time law isn’t a benefit some employers choose to offer. It’s a statutory floor that applies from an employee’s first day, regardless of company size. The size of the employer only changes the annual cap, never whether the right exists at all. An employer’s handbook language that suggests otherwise doesn’t change what the statute actually requires.

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This article provides general information about Arizona’s paid sick time law and is not legal advice. Compliance requirements can vary by specific policy and workforce — consult a licensed Arizona employment attorney with questions.