Paid sick leave requirements for Arizona employers

In November 2016, Arizona voters approved Proposition 206, which raised Arizona’s minimum wage in a series of increases and required employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees, full-time and part-time.[1]

Minimum Wage. On January 1, 2021, the minimum wage in Arizona increased to $12.15 per hour (from $12.00), to adjust for inflation.

The minimum wage levels are $3.00/hour less for employees who earn tips (provided the employee is earning at least minimum wage after tips are counted).

Paid Sick Leave. While the minimum wage hikes in Prop. 206 received most of the publicity, the requirement for paid sick leave has proven to be a bigger strain for many private employers, who were not previously required by Arizona law to provide such a benefit.

That changed July 1, 2017, when Arizona workers began to accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Accrual began on the employee’s first day of employment or July 1, 2017, whichever was later.

Although an employee may begin to use his/her paid sick time as it is accrued, the employer can require an employee hired after July 1, 2017, to wait until the 90th calendar day after they began working before using their accrued paid sick time.

The paid sick leave requirement applies to all employers, but the amount of the requirement depends on the size of an employer’s work force:

• Employers with fewer than 15 employees are required to allow employees to accrue and use a minimum of 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for up to 24 hours per year.

• Employers with 15 or more employees must allow employees to use and accrue a minimum of 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for up to 40 hours per year.
  

Everyone, including an owner, who performs work for the employer for compensation — whether salary, wages or commissions — is considered an employee for purposes of determining the size of the company’s work force.

For purposes of paid sick leave accrual, employees who are exempt from receiving overtime pay are assumed to work 40 hours per week. If their normal work week is less than 40 hours, paid sick leave accrues based on their normal work week.

Employees who have unused paid sick leave at the end of a year may carry over the unused accrual to the next year, unless their employer chooses to pay them for their unused sick time.

For some employers, there may be one glimmer of good news: Under the new statute (A.R.S. § 23-372), if the employer is providing enough paid time off to cover the minimum amount of paid sick time, and if the employer allows its workers to use that time off in the same way and for the same purposes as paid sick leave, then the employer does not need to provide additional paid sick time.

Compliance and Penalties. The Industrial Commission of Arizona enforces the minimum wage and paid sick leave requirements. Failure to comply carries a minimum $250 fine for the first violation and at least $1,000 for a subsequent violation.

Employers are required to retain, for four years, payroll records showing compliance. Failure to do so will raise a rebuttable presumption that the employer did not comply with the minimum wage and paid sick leave requirements.

Employers who fail to pay the proper wages or earned paid sick leave will be required to pay the employee the unpaid balance of the wages or earned paid sick leave owed, including interest, plus an additional amount equal to twice the underpaid wages or earned paid sick leave.

[1] For employers with more than 15 employees, the paid sick leave requirements apply to salaried and hourly employees.