
Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Arizona
Last updated: Mar 22, 2023

Contributions
Employer
Employer Payroll Contributions
10.33% – 35.71% | Total Employment Cost |
0.08% – 20.06% (Maximum taxable wages is 7,000.00 USD) | Unemployment Insurance (State) |
2.00% | Unemployment – New Employer (State) |
6.20% (Maximum taxable wages is 160,200.00 USD) | FICA Social Security (Federal) |
1.45% | FICA Medicare (Federal) |
0.60% -6.00% (Maximum taxable wages is 7,000 USD) | FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) The FUTA tax rate is 6.0% with a taxable wage base of 7,000 USD. However, if states operate their unemployment insurance programs in compliance with federal law then the FUTA tax is reduced (credit) by 5.4% to 0.6%. |
Employee
Employee Payroll Contributions
6.20% (Maximum taxable wages is 160,200.00 USD) | FICA Social Security (Federal) |
1.45% | FICA Medicare (Federal) |
0.90% | Additional tax on earnings over 200,000 USD (High-income earners also pay an additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes) |
7.65%-8.55% | Total Employee Cost |
Employee Income Tax
State Tax |
|
2.50% | Flat rate for single and married coupled filing jointly |
Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption |
|
Single | 12,550.00 USD |
couple /Married Filing Jointly | 25,100.00 USD |
Personal exemption | |
Single | N/A |
Couple /Married Filing Jointly | N/A |
Dependent | 100.00 USD |
Federal Tax – Singles |
|
10.00% | Up to 11,000 USD |
12.00% | 11,001 USD to 44,725 USD |
22.00% | 44,726 USD to 95,375 USD |
24.00% | 95,376 USD to 182,100 USD |
32.00% | 182,101 USD to 231.250 USD |
35.00% | 231,251 USD to 578,125 USD |
37.00% | 578,126 USD or more |
Federal Tax – Married, filing jointly |
|
10.00% | Up to 22,000 USD |
12.00% | 22,001 USD to 89,450 USD |
22.00% | 89,451 USD to 190,750 USD |
24.00% | 190,751 USD to 364,200 USD |
32.00% | 364,201 USD to 462,500 USD |
35.00% | 462,501 USD to 693,750 USD |
37.00% | 693,751 USD or more |
Federal Tax – Heads of Households |
|
10.00% | Up to 15,700 USD |
12.00% | 15,701 USD to 59,850 USD |
22.00% | 59,851 USD to 95,350 USD |
24.00% | 95,351 USD to 182,100 USD |
32.00% | 182,101 USD to 231,250 USD |
35.00% | 231,251 USD to 578,100 USD |
37.00% | 578,101 USD or more |
Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption |
|
13,850.00 USD | Single |
27,700.00 USD | Married Filing Jointly |
20,800.00 USD | Head of Household |
Minimum Wage
General
The Minimum wage in Arizona is 13.85 USD per hour.
Minimum Cash Wage (tipped) is 10.85 USD per hour
Maximum Tip Credit is 3.00 USD
Payroll
Payroll Cycle
In general, employees are paid monthly or semi-monthly. If an employee is paid semi-monthly, the payments must not be more than 16 days apart or five days after the end date of that pay period.
13th Salary
There are no provisions in the law regarding 13th salaries.
Working Hours
General
The workweek is a maximum of 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day.
Overtime
Arizona adheres to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and work in excess of 40 hours per week is considered overtime and paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay. If employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required.
However, should an employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, then overtime is paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay.
Working Week
Monday-Friday
Leave
Paid Time Off
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 Holidaysʼ
There are 12 official paid public holidays. If an employee works during these days, they receive 150% of the regular wages as compensation.
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).
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE (DAYS)
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.
Termination
Termination Process
Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal notice period to terminate an individual employment relationship, and employment is stipulated “at will.”
This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, notable discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, and as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds. In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for “just cause” termination.
Notice Period
In Arizona, most employees are employed “at-will,” and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice. In Arizona, payout of unused vacation time is not required by law. Still, generally, employers will pay an employee for unused vacation days, provided the employee gave some advanced notice of resignation; there is no official notice period.
Still, in general practice, two weeks’ notice is a minimum requirement.
In mass dismissal cases the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) must be followed, and employers must give 60 days’ notice to impacted employees.
Severance Pay
Except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, employers are not required to pay severance. Many employers choose to offer severance based on the length of employment.
Probation Period
There are no provisions in the law regarding probation or trial periods. However, it is common practice for employers to set a performance evaluation after an initially stated period of employment of 90 days.
VISA
VISA
Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States. An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security or the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.
If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a visa stamp from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement). To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition must be part of the visa request.
The types of visas include:
- H-1B: For applicants with a college degree hired to do specialized work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
- H-1B1: For applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
- H-2A: For temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- H-2B: For temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
- L: For intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a US branch of the company). The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial level position or higher with specialized knowledge.
- O: For people with extraordinary abilities in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.
The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.
For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:
- E-1: Highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics
- E-2: For those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability
- E-3: For skilled workers and professionals, as well as unskilled workers
- E-4: Members of certain immigrant groups
- E-5: Immigrant investors in US companies (substantial investment)
Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a “green card” if the employee can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive or manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States.
The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.
All employers are obligated to verify that all individuals they employ are authorized to work in the United States.
VAT
General
Arizona has a minimum combined sales tax rate of up to 11.20% (state tax is 5.60% and local tax is 0% to 5.60%).
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Payroll contributions and personal income tax rates have been updated.

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Payroll and Benefits Guide
in United States – Arizona
What’s covered in this guide:
- Employer/employee contributions
- Minimum wage
- Working hours
- Visa requirements
And more...
Public Holidays Calendar
Day | Date | Holiday | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Sunday | Jan-1 | New Year’s Day | |
Monday | Jan-16 | Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday | |
Monday | Feb-20 | President's Day | |
Monday | May-29 | Memorial Day | |
Monday | Jun-19 | Juneteenth National Independence Day | |
Tuesday | Jul-4 | Independence Day July | |
Monday | Sep-4 | Labor Day | |
Monday | Oct-9 | Columbus Day | |
Friday | Nov-10 | Veterans Day | |
Thursday | Nov-23 | Thanksgiving Day | |
Monday | Dec-25 | Christmas Day Holiday |
Questions & Answers