Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Arizona

 Annual Leave (vacation)

Arizona does not have any state laws that govern paid time off. However, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.

This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the collective bargaining agreements.

Public Holidays

Public holidays are not mandatory paid days off, but employers commonly allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.

Some companies might also agree to allow workers to take off state holidays; workers can find specific state holiday dates from their local government.

Usually when an agreed public holiday falls on a weekend, a day off in lieu is given on the Friday before or the Monday after the holiday.

Sick Days

It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).

Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:

• 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
• Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
• Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
• Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”

Or

• 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

In addition to the FMLA, Arizona state law requires employers to allow employees to accrue and use paid sick leave for a wide range of reasons, including the employee’s need for medical care, managing a mental or physical illness, injury, etc. or to care for a family member (biological, foster or adopted child, spouse, partner, parent, grandparent or grandchild, sibling, or family member equivalent).

The Arizona Sick Leave Accrual scheme entitles employees to accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum number of hours per year.

This limit can be higher if stated by the employer in the contract, and sick accrual hours start from the first day at work. Employers with 15 or more employees must allow their employees to a maximum of 40 hours per year accrued.

In contrast, employers with less than 15 employees must enable their employees to an accrued maximum of 24 hours per year.

Arizona also has a law applicable to all employees that provides quarantine and isolation leave to be treated and managed in the same way as sick leave.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Parental Leave

Parental leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Other Leave

Jury Duty: Full-time employees are entitled to job-protected, unpaid leave for jury duty, as a witness in a case, responding to a subpoena, or acting as a plaintiff or defendant in the courts.

Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement.

In addition to the federal law USERRA, Arizona law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.

Voting Leave: Employees that are registered to vote must be allowed to take necessary time off from work, as unpaid leave, to vote in any municipal, county, state, or federal primary or general election.

Employees must provide reasonable notice to their employers to take time off to vote.