Arizona Leave of Absence Laws: Sick Time, FMLA, and Disability

Arizona’s leave of absence laws come from a mix of federal statutes and a handful of state protections. There is no Arizona family and medical leave act, so extended job-protected leave for a serious illness or a new child runs through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). What Arizona does provide on its own is earned paid sick time for nearly every private-sector worker, plus specific protections for jury duty, voting, crime victims, and public-employee military service. Federal law fills in the rest: pregnancy accommodations, disability-related leave, and reemployment rights for service members.

Paid Sick Time for Almost Every Worker

The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, in effect since 2017, gives paid sick time to employees of every private employer and local government entity in Arizona. State and federal government employers are excluded from the law’s definition of “employer.”¹ There is no minimum tenure, no hours-per-week requirement, and no exclusion for part-time, temporary, or seasonal workers. Accrual starts on day one.

Employees earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. If your employer has 15 or more employees, you can accrue up to 40 hours a year. At smaller employers, the cap is 24 hours a year. Employers can be more generous if they choose.²

What You Can Use It For

Paid sick time covers your own medical care, diagnosis, or preventive treatment, and care for a family member with a health issue or medical appointment. It also covers absences when a public official closes your workplace or your child’s school because of a public health emergency.³

A less-known use: absences tied to domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking. That includes medical care, counseling, relocating or securing a home, using a victim advocacy organization, and attending related legal proceedings. This protection exists regardless of employer size.³

Employers cannot retaliate against workers who request or use earned paid sick time, and the law specifically protects the right to complain about denied sick time.⁴

FMLA: Extended Unpaid Leave

The FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period. Because Arizona has no state-level equivalent, this is the main source of extended leave for private-sector workers.

Who Qualifies

Three conditions have to line up. Your employer must have at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. You must have worked for that employer for at least 12 months, which do not have to be consecutive. And you must have logged at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before your leave begins.⁵ The 50-employee count is measured at the time you give notice.⁶ Independent contractors are not eligible.

Reasons Covered

FMLA leave applies to the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, and your own serious health condition when it prevents you from doing your job. A serious health condition generally means one that requires inpatient care or ongoing treatment by a healthcare provider, and your employer can request medical certification.⁵

Two military-specific categories also fall under FMLA. Qualifying exigency leave provides up to 12 workweeks for urgent matters tied to a family member’s foreign deployment. Military caregiver leave provides up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period to care for a current service member or recent veteran with a serious injury or illness.⁵

Notice and How Leave Is Taken

When the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a scheduled surgery or an expected due date, you must give at least 30 days’ advance notice.⁷ For emergencies, notice should be given as soon as practicable.

Leave does not have to be continuous. When medically necessary, you can take it intermittently, such as a few hours for chemotherapy one week and a full day for recovery the next, with certification supporting the pattern. For the birth or placement of a healthy child, intermittent leave is only available if your employer agrees.⁸

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Nursing

The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) applies to employers with 15 or more employees and requires reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.⁹ Leave can be one of those accommodations, even after FMLA and employer-provided leave have run out. An employer cannot force you onto leave if another accommodation would work.¹⁰

If you take leave as a PWFA accommodation, you are generally entitled to return to the same position unless holding it open would cause the employer undue hardship. The question is whether you can reasonably be expected to perform the essential functions of the job when the leave ends.¹⁰

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act requires most employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space (not a bathroom) to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth. The space must be shielded from view and free from intrusion.¹¹

Disability Leave Under the ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees and requires reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities, unless the accommodation would create an undue hardship. Extended unpaid leave and modified schedules can qualify as accommodations.¹² This matters most when you have used up all 12 FMLA weeks but still cannot return because of a disability. Undue hardship is judged case by case, looking at cost, employer size, and the nature of the business.

Military Leave

The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) covers every employer, public and private, with no minimum size.¹³ Service members can take leave for military duties without losing their civilian job. Advance notice is required when possible. On return, you must be reinstated to your previous position or a comparable one, and employers cannot discriminate against workers based on military service.

Arizona layers additional protection on top for public employees. Under ARS 26-168, state and local government workers who belong to the National Guard or U.S. Armed Forces reserves are entitled to paid leave for field training and active duty, without losing their efficiency rating. Military leave cannot be charged for days you were not otherwise scheduled to work.¹⁴ Administrative rules cap paid military leave at roughly three times the employee’s average weekly hours per year, about 15 working days on a standard 40-hour schedule, with a higher cap spread across two consecutive federal fiscal years.¹⁵ Private-sector employees in Arizona get unpaid military leave under USERRA, with full reemployment rights.

Crime Victim Leave

Arizona law provides job-protected leave for crime victims, but only at employers with 50 or more employees. Covered workers can take time off to attend court proceedings, obtain a protective order, or seek an injunction against harassment. The employer does not have to pay for the time. You can choose to use accrued vacation, personal leave, or sick time, and the employer can require you to.¹⁶

Before taking leave, you must provide documentation, such as a police report or a court order, along with notice of any scheduled proceedings. The employer cannot fire, refuse to hire, or otherwise penalize you for using this right, and must keep leave records confidential. The employer can limit leave if the absence would create an undue hardship, defined as significant difficulty and expense considering the size of the business and how critical your role is.¹⁶

If you work for a smaller employer, you can still use Arizona paid sick time for absences related to domestic violence, sexual violence, abuse, or stalking. That protection has no employer-size threshold.³

Jury Duty and Voting

Arizona law prohibits employers from dismissing, demoting, or otherwise penalizing an employee for responding to a jury summons, participating in jury selection, or serving on a grand or trial jury. An employer also cannot force you to use vacation, personal, or sick leave for jury service. Employers are not required to pay you during that time, but you cannot lose seniority, and you must be returned to your previous position (or a higher one, if seniority would warrant it) when you come back. Violating any of these protections is a class 3 misdemeanor.¹⁷

Under ARS 16-402, employees who do not have enough time outside working hours to get to the polls on election day can take paid time off at the start or end of a shift. You are generally expected to notify your employer before election day.

Health Insurance While You Are Out

During FMLA leave, your employer must continue your group health coverage on the same terms as if you were still working, which means it keeps paying its share of the premium.¹⁸ You still owe your share. If a payment runs more than 30 days late, the employer can drop coverage after providing at least 15 days’ written notice. Even if coverage lapses that way, when you return the employer must restore you to equivalent coverage, with no new waiting periods, no pre-existing condition exclusions, and no medical exam.¹⁹

For leave not protected by FMLA, or if you do not return after FMLA leave, a COBRA qualifying event may be triggered. COBRA generally applies to private-sector employers with 20 or more employees and lets you and your dependents continue group health coverage at your own expense.²⁰

Retaliation and How to File a Complaint

Retaliation is the common thread across every leave law. Employers cannot fire, demote, cut hours, or take any adverse action against you for requesting or using legally protected leave, whether that is FMLA leave, paid sick time, jury duty, crime victim leave, or military service. Under Arizona’s paid sick leave law, filing a complaint about denied sick time is itself protected.⁴

Where you file depends on the law. Complaints about denied or improperly handled paid sick leave go to the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Labor Department, which investigates and can order remedies including back pay.²¹ FMLA complaints, including wrongful denial, failure to reinstate, or retaliation, go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.²² You can also file a private FMLA lawsuit. The statute of limitations is two years from the last violation, or three years if the employer’s conduct was willful, and remedies can include lost wages, benefits, and an equal amount in liquidated damages in some cases.²³

Denial of a reasonable accommodation under the ADA or the PWFA is handled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. USERRA complaints go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, which can refer unresolved cases to the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 23 Labor 23-371
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 23-372 – Accrual of Earned Paid Sick Time
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 23-373 – Use of Earned Paid Sick Time
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 23-375 – Notice
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor – Employee Eligibility
7
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.302 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave
8
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.202 – Intermittent Leave or Reduced Leave Schedule
9
Federal Register. Implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
10
eCFR. Part 1636 – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
11
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
12
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The ADA – Your Responsibilities as an Employer
13
U.S. Office of Special Counsel. USERRA Overview
14
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 26-168 – Military Leave
15
Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Admin Code R2-5A-D603 – Military Leave
16
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-4439 – Right to Leave Work; Scheduled Proceedings; Counseling
17
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 21-236 – Employment Rights; Automatic Postponement; Violation; Classification
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act
19
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.212 – Employee Failure to Pay Health Plan Premium Payments
20
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers
21
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 23 Labor 23-364
22
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77B – Protection for Individuals Under the FMLA
23
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2617 – Enforcement