If you’re a business owner in Arizona—or you have employees who live in the Grand Canyon state—you need to understand their rights when it comes to taking a leave of absence.
Keep reading to familiarize yourself with paid family leave and find out exactly how to comply with federal leave laws.
What is paid family leave?
Paid family leave (PFL), sometimes called paid family and medical leave (PFML), gives people time off to bond with a new child, take care of a loved one, or deal with their personal health—without losing their salary.
Most PFL and PFML programs give eligible employees anywhere from two to six months off, with weekly benefit payments ranging from 50-100% of an employee’s regular salary. Some states have PFL programs that employers are required to participate in, but most don’t, leaving PFL up to individual employers to provide.
As of May 2026, 14 states (plus DC) have enacted paid family leave programs: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
California, for example, gives eligible workers up to eight weeks of PFL, with weekly benefit payments equal to 70-90% of an employee’s usual wages. Meanwhile, Minnesota gives people up to 12 weeks of bonding leave (with birthing parents receiving up to 20 weeks), with weekly payments ranging from 50-90% of their salary.
Does Arizona have paid family leave?
Arizona doesn’t offer paid family leave to all its workers. The only paid leave Arizona provides is paid parental leave for eligible State Personnel System (SPS) employees, through a law that went into effect in 2023.
Qualified SPS employees can receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave following the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. To be eligible, Arizona SPS employees need to:
Have one cumulative year of service in the last seven years
Have 1,250 hours of service logged in the 12 months prior to leave
What about paid disability leave?
Paid disability leave gives employees time off work to recover from or manage non-work-related illnesses, injuries, or other medical conditions. Most disability leave offers employees 60-70% of their regular wages for several weeks up to several months.
Arizona doesn’t provide paid short-term or long-term disability leave, which means employees only have access to paid disability leave if their employers offer it as an insurance option.
If you don’t offer disability insurance, your Arizona employees just have two choices when they need disability leave:
Take sick leave
Take unpaid federal leave
What is Arizona’s paid sick leave policy?
Under the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, Arizona requires all employers to provide paid sick leave. Employees accrue one hour of sick leave (paid at their regular rate of pay) for every 30 hours they work, regardless of whether they work full-time or part-time.
If you have fewer than 15 employees, you’re obligated to let them accrue and use up to 24 hours of paid sick leave each year. If you have more than 15 employees, you have to let them accrue and use up to 40 hours of sick leave a year.
You also have to give employees the option to carry over any unused sick leave into the next year, unless you frontload their sick leave at the start of the year.
How does federal leave work?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that gives some people the right to take an unpaid leave of absence. FMLA applies to employers with at least 50 employees; under the law, they’re required to give eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for one of four reasons:
Bonding: To care for and bond with a new child (this applies to newly born, adopted, and fostered children)
Caregiving: To care for a family member who has a serious health condition (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
Personal medical reasons: To manage a serious personal health condition
Military exigency: To manage affairs when a family member is on or called to active duty (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
Who’s eligible for FMLA leave?
To qualify for unpaid leave under FMLA, Arizona workers have to:
Work for an employer with at least 50 employees who work within a 75-mile radius
Need time off from work for bonding, caregiving, personal medical reasons, or military exigency
Have worked for their employer for at least one year (doesn’t need to be consecutive)
Have over 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months immediately before leave begins
Unfortunately, FMLA’s eligibility rules leave a lot of Arizonans without leave coverage. According to data gathered by the National Partnership for Women and Families, 66% of Arizonans aren’t eligible for FMLA leave. They might not work for a big enough employer, may not have worked enough hours yet, or may have just started a new role.
What’s more, lots of Arizonans who qualify for leave can’t afford to actually take it, since it means 12 weeks without pay.
What are my employer responsibilities for FMLA leave?
If you have 50 or more employees who work within 75 miles, FMLA applies to you—and you need to make sure you follow the law. You can think of your responsibilities as the three Rs:
Rights
Restoration
Records
Let’s break these down.
1. Rights = Tell employees about their leave rights
Your main duty as an employer is to make sure your employees know about FMLA leave—and that they’re eligible and allowed to take it. Here’s what you need to do:
Post a general notice in your workplace explaining what FMLA leave is, which employees are eligible, and how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. Make sure the poster is in English, as well as any other languages your employees speak.
Give written notice to all your FMLA-eligible employees on how to request a leave and when (with 30 days of notice). You can print a separate form for employees or include a general FMLA write-up in your employee handbook.
Give your employees a Rights and Responsibilities Notice within five days of them requesting a leave. The form goes over the 12-month period your employee’s leave can occur, if/when you require certification for the leave, your employee’s right to use PTO during FMLA leave, and your employee’s right to job protection and continued health insurance.
Give your employees a Designation Notice to let them know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave, and clarify the benefits and protections they’ll receive.
2. Restoration = Restoring employees to their same jobs after leave
FMLA leave comes with guaranteed job protection, meaning you’re legally required to restore employees to their same roles (or comparable ones) when they return from leave. Make sure you continue your employee's health insurance during their leave, and that you maintain their position so it’s open to them after leave.
3. Records = Keep all relevant documents relating to leave
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recommends holding onto your payroll and personnel records for at least three years. For leave, keep all your:
Payroll receipts
Paystubs
Official employee requests for leave
Description of current job roles, work schedules, and compensation
Documentation of leave start and end dates
Copies of FMLA notices
Can I give my employees PFL on my own?
You can offer your employees PFL the same way you’d offer any other employee benefit. Paid leave positively impacts employees from every angle: financially, emotionally, physically, and mentally.
Giving your employees the option to take time off work during major life milestones and challenges—while still being compensated—goes a long way toward improving their job satisfaction and raising your workforce retention rates.
If you don’t have an equitable, comprehensive leave policy yet, it’s not too late to create one. Before you explore PFL insurance products, think about your employee demographic and their needs, then research what your competitors offer for leave.
A bare minimum PFL policy usually offers six weeks at 60% pay, while a more basic option gives employees up to 12 weeks at 70% pay. To start, check out our guide to building a parental leave policy, then see what other types of paid leave you can incorporate into your employee benefits package.
Resources for Arizona employers
Want to brush up on business tax incentives or employment laws in Arizona? Bookmark our state guides:
