Arizona Sick Time Law: Accrual, Carryover, and Retaliation

Arizona’s sick time law, part of the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act that took effect July 1, 2017, requires nearly every private employer in the state to let workers earn paid sick time. You accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, and you can use those hours for your own illness, to care for a family member, during a public health emergency, or if you or a family member is dealing with domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking.¹

Who the Law Covers

Coverage is broad. Full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees all qualify. The statute defines “employer” to include corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, associations, and political subdivisions of the state, but it excludes the State of Arizona itself and the federal government.²

Independent contractors are not covered. That matters because some employers misclassify workers as contractors to sidestep obligations like paid sick time. If your work looks like employment — set hours, employer-provided tools, direct supervision — you may actually be an employee no matter what your paperwork says, and misclassification can create back-pay liability.

A few narrow exclusions apply. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement are exempt if that agreement expressly waives the sick time requirements.³ Someone employed by a parent or sibling, or a person doing casual babysitting in the employer’s home, is not an “employee” under the statute.

How Much Sick Time You Earn

Every covered employee earns one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, and accrual starts on the first day of work. The annual cap depends on how many people your employer has on the payroll:¹

Employers with 15 or more employees: up to 40 hours per year.
Employers with fewer than 15 employees: up to 24 hours per year.

The headcount includes everyone on the payroll, not just people scheduled on a given day. Employers can set higher caps, but not lower.

The 90-Day Waiting Period

Accrual begins on day one, but your employer can require you to wait 90 calendar days after hire before you actually use any of what you’ve earned. Once that window closes, whatever balance has built up is available immediately.¹ The waiting period applies only to employees hired after July 1, 2017, and only if the employer chooses to impose it.

Frontloading Instead of Hour-by-Hour Accrual

Rather than tracking accrual on a running basis, an employer can front-load the full annual amount at the start of each year.¹ You get your 24 or 40 hours up front, and both sides skip the tally. Frontloaded time still has to meet the statutory minimum.

The statute lets the employer define “year” as any regular, consecutive 12-month period.² Calendar year, fiscal year, or your hire anniversary all work, so long as the employer is consistent.

What You Can Use Sick Time For

The law covers more than most people expect. You can use sick time for your own health needs — illness, injury, a doctor’s visit, preventive care, or a mental health condition — and to care for a family member facing the same kinds of issues.⁴

“Family member” is defined broadly. It reaches:²

Children — biological, adopted, foster, stepchildren, legal wards, children of a domestic partner, and any child you stand in loco parentis to.
Parents — biological, foster, step, or adoptive, including your spouse’s or domestic partner’s parents and anyone who stood in a parental role when you were a minor.
Spouses and domestic partners recognized under any state’s laws.
Grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings, including step and adoptive relationships, of you or your spouse or domestic partner.
Anyone related by blood or close personal association whose relationship with you is the equivalent of family.

That last category is a genuine catch-all. You can use sick time to care for someone who functions as family even without a legal or biological tie.

Public Health Emergencies

If a public official orders your workplace or your child’s school closed because of a public health emergency, you can use sick time to cover that absence. The same is true if a health authority or your doctor determines that your presence in the community could jeopardize others’ health because of exposure to a communicable disease, even if you have no symptoms.⁴

Safe Time for Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence, and Stalking

Arizona folds “safe time” into the same pool of earned sick time. If you or a family member is dealing with domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking, you can use your hours to get medical care, seek counseling, consult with an attorney, relocate or secure your home, access victim services, or take part in legal proceedings.⁴ Your employer must treat these absences the same as medical sick time.

Requesting Leave and Documentation

You can request sick time orally, in writing, electronically, or by any other method your employer accepts. When the need is foreseeable, such as a scheduled surgery or a planned court date, give advance notice in good faith. For sudden illness, notify your employer as soon as you reasonably can.⁴

Your employer cannot make you find a replacement worker as a condition of taking sick time.⁵

Documentation rules have a clear line. Your employer can only request documentation when your absence lasts three or more consecutive workdays.⁴ For shorter absences, your word is enough. When documentation is required, what counts as reasonable depends on the reason:

For medical absences, a signed statement from a health care professional confirming that the sick time was necessary.
For safe time absences, the employee chooses from a broad list, including a police report, a protective order, a statement from a victim services organization or witness advocate, a statement from a clergy member or attorney, or the employee’s own written statement.

Your employer cannot require the documentation to disclose the specific nature of your health condition or the details of the violence.⁴ For safe time, you pick the form of proof, not the employer.

Carryover, Payout, and What Happens When You Leave

Unused sick time carries over to the following year automatically. The annual usage caps of 24 or 40 hours still apply, so carryover doesn’t raise how much you can use in a single year. It just means the balance doesn’t disappear if you stay healthy.¹

As an alternative, an employer can pay out unused sick time at year-end. If they go this route, they must immediately provide a fresh balance at the start of the new year that meets or exceeds the statutory minimum.¹ They can’t pay out the old balance and make you re-accrue from zero.

When you leave a job — quit, retire, or fired — Arizona law does not require the employer to pay out your unused sick time balance.¹ Unless your contract or company policy says otherwise, that balance is forfeited.

If you’re rehired by the same employer within nine months of separation, your previously accrued unused sick time must be reinstated. You can use it immediately upon starting again, and you continue accruing from that point.¹ After nine months, the employer has no reinstatement obligation.

Retaliation Is Prohibited

Your employer cannot retaliate against you for requesting or using earned paid sick time, filing a complaint about a violation, participating in an investigation, or simply telling a coworker about their rights under the law.⁶

Retaliation means any adverse action: firing, demotion, suspension, reduced hours, or discipline. The statute also specifically bars employers from using attendance policies to penalize sick time taken under this law. If your company runs a point-based absence system, earned paid sick time absences cannot count toward those points.⁶ That single provision catches a lot of employers who haven’t updated their attendance rules.

Even if a complaint you file turns out to be wrong, you’re protected as long as you raised it in good faith.⁶

How Arizona Sick Time Interacts with FMLA

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for eligible workers at businesses with 50 or more employees. FMLA leave is unpaid by default, but federal law allows either the employee or the employer to require that accrued paid leave, including Arizona earned paid sick time, be substituted during an FMLA absence.⁷

The two run at the same time. If you take FMLA leave for a qualifying reason and your employer requires you to use your Arizona sick time during that period, both clocks tick together. You get paid for the portion covered by your sick time balance, and the whole period still counts against your 12-week FMLA allotment. Arizona’s law does not extend the total amount of leave available. It just determines whether some of that time is paid.

Filing a Complaint

The Industrial Commission of Arizona enforces the earned paid sick time provisions of the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act.⁸ If your employer denies your sick time, retaliates against you for using it, or fails to give the required written notice, you can file a complaint directly with the Commission. The ICA has a separate Earned Paid Sick Time Claim Form for these complaints; it is not the same as the general wage complaint form.

You can also file a complaint in court or tell others about an employer’s violations without going through the Commission first. Whichever path you choose, keep records: hours worked, sick time requests, and any communications with your employer about leave. Those records are often the difference between a complaint that moves and one that stalls.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 23-372 – Accrual of Earned Paid Sick Time
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 23-371 – Definitions
3
Arizona Legislature. Proposition I-24-2016 Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act Analysis by Legislative Council
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 23-373 – Use of Earned Paid Sick Time
5
Industrial Commission of Arizona. Frequently Asked Questions About Minimum Wage and Earned Paid Sick Time
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 23-374 – Exercise of Rights Protected; Retaliation Prohibited
7
U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
8
Industrial Commission of Arizona. Frequently Asked Questions About Wage and Earned Paid Sick Time Laws