Arizona Overtime Laws for Hourly Employees (2026)

The rule

	Arizona
Weekly threshold	Over 40 hours worked in a workweek (a fixed, recurring 168-hour period)
Daily threshold	None. A long day is not overtime unless the week passes 40 hours
Rate	At least 1.5 times the employee's regular rate of pay for the hours over 40
Who is covered	Nonexempt employees of covered employers under the federal FLSA
Common exemptions	Executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees who meet the federal duties and salary tests
Arizona rule	Arizona has no separate overtime statute for private employers. The federal rule is the rule.
When overtime must be paid	No later than 16 days after the end of the most recent pay period (A.R.S. 23-351)
Records	Payroll records showing hours worked for each day worked, kept for four years (A.R.S. 23-364)

What the federal rule requires

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires covered, nonexempt employees to be paid at least time and a half their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour days; it can start on any day, but it cannot move around to avoid overtime.

There is no daily overtime under federal law. Work on a weekend, holiday, or night shift is paid at the regular rate unless the week's hours go past 40. The FLSA also sets no limit on how many hours an employee 16 or older may work in a week.

The regular rate is not always the hourly wage. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions are folded in before the 1.5 multiplier is applied, which is why a bonus paid in a week with overtime raises the overtime rate for that week.

What Arizona law does and does not add

Arizona's overtime statute, A.R.S. 23-391, applies to employees of the state and its political subdivisions, and A.R.S. 23-392 covers law enforcement and probation officers. Neither reaches a private business. The U.S. Department of Labor's table of state wage laws lists a minimum wage for Arizona but no state overtime requirement, so for a private employer the 40-hour rule comes from the FLSA and is enforced by the federal Wage and Hour Division.

State law still shapes the paycheck. A.R.S. 23-351 requires at least two fixed paydays a month, no more than 16 days apart, and says overtime pay must be paid no later than 16 days after the end of the most recent pay period. A.R.S. 23-364 requires payroll records showing the hours worked for each day worked, kept for four years. If those records are missing, the law presumes the employer did not pay the required minimum wage.

Hours worked also drive Arizona sick time

Arizona's earned paid sick time law accrues by the hour: at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 15 or more employees can cap accrual and use at 40 hours a year, and smaller employers at 24 hours, unless they choose a higher limit (A.R.S. 23-372). Sick hours an employee takes do not count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold, because only hours actually worked count, but the same daily punches that decide overtime also decide how much sick time each person has earned.

Worked example: a 20-person commercial cleaning company

A cleaner paid $18 an hour works six evening shifts in one workweek: five 8-hour shifts across four office buildings and a 6-hour Saturday deep clean, for 46 hours.

Drive time between buildings during the shift is hours worked under the FLSA, so it belongs inside the 46 hours. Leaving it off the clock would understate both the weekly total and the overtime.
40 hours at $18: $720. 6 hours at $27 (1.5 times $18): $162. Gross: $882. None of the 8-hour shifts earns anything extra on its own.
Under A.R.S. 23-351, the $162 of overtime must be paid no later than 16 days after the end of the pay period. The simplest way to meet that is to pay it with the regular wages for the same period.
The same 46 hours worked also earn a little over 1.5 hours of Arizona sick time at one hour per 30 hours worked.

How to track it

With no daily trigger, the number that matters is each employee's running total inside the workweek you define. For crews that move between sites, the clock has to capture travel between jobs and short paid breaks, or the weekly total, the overtime, and the sick time accrual are all wrong.

ClockOut stores every punch with its timestamp, totals hours by the company's workweek, and warns managers when someone is projected to pass 40 hours before the week ends. Timesheets and payroll exports (CSV, Gusto, ADP, QuickBooks) show daily and weekly hours, the same daily hours Arizona requires you to keep for four years, so save them with your payroll records. The 16-day pay deadline and sick time balances are handled in payroll; ClockOut supplies the hours behind both.

Arizona overtime FAQ

Does Arizona have daily overtime?

No. Arizona follows the federal FLSA, which counts overtime by the workweek only. A 12-hour shift is paid at the regular rate unless the employee's total for that week goes past 40 hours.

Do sick time and paid holidays count toward the 40 hours?

No. Only hours actually worked count toward the federal 40-hour threshold. An employee who works 36 hours and uses 8 hours of Arizona earned paid sick time has 44 paid hours but no overtime, unless your own policy says otherwise.

Can I give comp time instead of paying overtime?

Not in the private sector. Comp time in place of overtime pay is available only to public agencies under the FLSA. A private employer can adjust hours within the same workweek to keep the total at or under 40, but once the week is over the overtime is owed in cash.

When does overtime have to be paid in Arizona?

A.R.S. 23-351 requires at least two fixed paydays a month, no more than 16 days apart, and says overtime pay is due no later than 16 days after the end of the most recent pay period. Paying overtime with the regular wages for the same pay period meets the deadline.

Sources, checked September 23, 2026

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the linked source.