Arizona Overtime Laws: No State Overtime Rule, a State Tax Break, and Triple Damages for Unpaid Wages

Arizona has no overtime law of its own for private employers. Overtime in Arizona follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): time and a half for every hour over 40 in a workweek, nothing extra for a long day, and the same exemptions as the rest of the country. Arizona adds a few things of its own: a state minimum wage of $15.15 in 2026, higher city rates in Flagstaff and Tucson, triple damages for unpaid wages, and, since June 2026, a state tax break on overtime pay.

This guide covers the overtime laws in Arizona for 2026 with worked examples. It also answers common questions, such as how many hours you can work in a day and what counts as full time, and explains the new state deduction. Every figure links to the statute or agency behind it.

Arizona overtime laws: the short answer

The federal rule applies: non exempt employees must be paid “not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay” for hours over 40 in a workweek, according to the US Department of Labor. Arizona’s own overtime statute, A.R.S. 23-391, covers only state and local government employees.

Is overtime after 8 hours or 40 hours in Arizona?

After 40 hours in a workweek. Arizona has no daily overtime, so a 10 or 12 hour shift earns straight pay as long as the week stays at 40 hours or less. Four 10 hour days pay no overtime; five 10 hour days pay 10 hours of it.

The workweek is a fixed period of 7 consecutive days that the employer sets, and each week stands alone. An employer cannot average 50 hours one week with 30 the next to avoid overtime. Working 32 hours does not trigger overtime either, because no federal or Arizona rule changes the 40 hour threshold.

How many hours can you work in a day in Arizona?

Arizona labor laws set no limit on hours worked in a day for adults. The Department of Labor states that there is “no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek,” and Arizona adds no daily cap.

Arizona also has no state law requiring meal or rest breaks for adults. It does not appear in the Department of Labor’s table of states that require meal periods. Under federal rules, short breaks an employer chooses to give, usually 5 to 20 minutes, count as paid work time (29 CFR 785.18).

How many hours is full time or part time in Arizona?

Neither Arizona law nor the FLSA defines full time or part time. The Department of Labor says the matter is “generally to be determined by the employer” (DOL). The label does not change overtime: a part time employee who works 41 hours in a week is owed 1 hour of overtime.

How overtime pay in Arizona is calculated

Overtime pay is 1.5 times the regular rate for each hour over 40. The regular rate includes the hourly wage plus nondiscretionary pay such as production bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials. The examples below use 2026 wages; our overtime calculator handles other numbers.

Example 1: minimum wage worker in Phoenix

A retail associate in Phoenix earns the $15.15 state minimum and works 45 hours.

Example 2: the same week in Flagstaff

Flagstaff’s minimum wage is $18.35 in 2026, and the city requires the full rate for every employee, tipped or not (City of Flagstaff).

Tucson sets its own minimum of $15.45 for 2026 (City of Tucson), which puts the lowest overtime rate there at $23.18.

Example 3: tipped server in Scottsdale

Under A.R.S. 23-363(C), an employer may pay a tipped employee “up to $3.00 per hour less than the minimum wage,” so the lowest cash wage is $12.15. Overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, and the same $3.00 credit is subtracted once.

Example 4: hourly worker with a production bonus

A warehouse worker earns $20.00 an hour, works 44 hours, and gets an $88 weekly productivity bonus.

Leaving the bonus out of the regular rate would pay $1,008.00, $4.00 short every week.

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Who is exempt, and salaried employees

Because Arizona relies on federal law, the federal exemptions apply. The most common are executive, administrative, and professional employees, outside salespeople, some computer employees, and groups the FLSA exempts by industry, such as farm workers, some interstate truck drivers, and seasonal amusement businesses (29 U.S.C. § 213).

A salary alone does not make someone exempt. To qualify as an executive, administrator, or professional, an employee must earn at least $684 a week, or $35,568 a year, and their main duties must fit the exemption (US Department of Labor). The Department of Labor confirmed that level in May 2026, when it restored the regulations after a 2024 rule was struck down. Older Arizona guides that still quote $455 a week are out of date.

A salaried employee who fails either test is non exempt. Their regular rate is the weekly salary divided by the hours it is meant to cover, and every hour over 40 is paid at 1.5 times that rate. Our articles on overtime for salaried employees and who is exempt from overtime pay go into detail.

Is mandatory overtime legal in Arizona?

Yes. Neither the FLSA nor Arizona law limits how many hours an adult can be scheduled, so an employer can require overtime, and refusing it may lead to discipline unless a contract or union agreement says otherwise. The employer still has to pay for it, though. Hours worked over 40 must be paid at time and a half, whether or not the overtime was approved in advance.

Private employers also cannot give comp time instead of overtime pay. Under 29 U.S.C. § 207(o), comp time is available only to public agencies.

Public employees and comp time

A.R.S. 23-391 is the one Arizona statute on overtime pay, and it covers employees of the state and its political subdivisions in positions that their agency or governing body has made eligible. When federal law requires overtime, they receive “one and one-half times the regular rate” or “one and one-half hours of compensatory time off for each hour worked.” When federal law does not require it, the employer may pay straight time or give hour for hour comp time.

Federal law caps how much comp time public employees can bank: 240 hours for most, and 480 hours for public safety, emergency response, and seasonal work, after which overtime must be paid in cash (29 U.S.C. § 207(o)). The state workweek for most agencies runs from Saturday at 12:00 a.m. to Friday at 11:59 p.m.

Is overtime taxed in Arizona?

Less than before. Federal law lets workers deduct qualified overtime compensation for tax years 2025 through 2028: the “half” in time and a half that the FLSA requires, up to $12,500 a year, or $25,000 for joint filers (IRS). Arizona now allows the same deduction on the state return.

Getting there took most of 2026. The Department of Revenue issued 2025 forms with the overtime subtraction under the governor’s Executive Order 2025-15, then warned that people claiming it might have to amend later, depending on the Legislature. An earlier conformity bill, SB 1638, was vetoed in February. On June 13, 2026, the governor signed the budget package, and her office announced that “Arizonans will have no taxes on tips and overtime” (Office of the Arizona Governor).

How to claim it, according to the Department of Revenue’s Middle Class Tax Cuts Package worksheet:

• Taxpayers who qualify for the federal overtime deduction “may also take these deductions on their 2025 Arizona state individual income tax return.”
• The deduction is not available on Form 140A or Form 140EZ, so residents must file Form 140.
• Part year residents and nonresidents may subtract only qualified overtime included in Arizona gross income.

Only overtime the FLSA requires counts, and payroll taxes still apply to all of it. A tax adviser can check a specific return.

Unpaid overtime: triple damages and wage claims

An Arizona employee who is not paid what they are owed has three routes:

• A lawsuit under state law. A.R.S. 23-355 lets an employee recover “an amount that is treble the amount of the unpaid wages.”
• A wage claim with the Industrial Commission. Under A.R.S. 23-356, an employee can file instead of suing if the unpaid wages do not exceed $12,000 and the claim is filed within one year. The Commission’s Labor Department provides an unpaid wage claim form.
• A federal claim under the FLSA for overtime, with 2 years to file, or 3 for willful violations (29 U.S.C. § 255).

Final pay has deadlines too. Under A.R.S. 23-353, a discharged employee must be paid “within seven working days or the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner,” and an employee who quits by the next regular payday. Overtime owed at that point is part of those wages.

For employers, the $4.00 weekly gap in Example 4 is $208 over a year, and up to $624 if trebled, for one employee. Accurate records of hours and pay components are the cheapest protection, and our guide to employee timekeeping covers what to keep.

Tracking overtime with actiTIME

Arizona overtime laws add no state overtime rule, so employers mainly need clean weekly totals and a correct regular rate. In actiTIME, employees log time against tasks in a weekly timesheet or as start and stop times in Calendar View, and managers approve each week before payroll.

• Overtime Registration calculates overtime automatically for each user, or lets employees enter it manually, depending on the setting you choose for them.
• The Time Balance and Overtime Report compares worked time with scheduled hours across the team.
• Set an overtime rate in each user’s profile, and overtime costs appear in the Cost of Work Report by project and customer.
• Approved weeks can be locked, so hours that went to payroll cannot be changed afterward.

FAQ

What are the overtime laws in Arizona for 2026?

Arizona follows the FLSA: time and a half after 40 hours a week, with no daily overtime. The minimum wage is $15.15, or $18.35 in Flagstaff and $15.45 in Tucson, and exempt salaried staff must earn at least $684 a week. Arizona now also allows the federal overtime deduction on state returns.

Is it illegal to not pay overtime in AZ?

Under AZ overtime laws, yes, for non exempt employees. Overtime is required by federal law, and unpaid wages can be recovered in Arizona at up to three times the amount owed under A.R.S. 23-355.

Is over 32 hours considered overtime now?

No. Overtime still starts after 40 hours in a workweek under federal law, and Arizona has not changed that.

Does Arizona require lunch breaks?

No state law requires meal or rest breaks for adults. If an employer offers short breaks of up to about 20 minutes, federal rules treat them as paid time, and a meal break counts as unpaid only if the employee is fully relieved of duty.

Does Arizona require double time?

No. Double time comes only from a contract, union agreement, or company policy.

One federal rule, a few Arizona extras

Arizona overtime laws are mostly federal law: 40 hours, time and a half, and the federal exemptions. Arizona’s own additions are the wage floors in Flagstaff and Tucson, triple damages when wages go unpaid, and a tax deduction that now reaches state returns. Keep weekly hours and every pay component on record, and check the minimum wage each January.

To see how that works with your team, start a free trial of actiTIME. It runs for 30 days with every feature included, and afterward you can keep the permanent free version for teams of up to 3 users.