New-Hire Wage Notice Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Arizona's general hire writings do not state the employee's wage rate

A.R.S. § 23-364(D) requires an employer to give the employee its business name, address, and telephone number in writing upon hire. A.R.S. § 23-375 separately requires written earned-paid-sick-time notice at commencement of employment.

Neither writing is a general disclosure of the employee's hourly rate, salary, commission basis, overtime rate, fixed payday, allowances, or deductions. Arizona's wage-payment statute requires the employer to designate fixed paydays, but A.R.S. § 23-351(A) does not say those dates must be delivered in a hire notice.

The sick-time notice has six required subjects

Under A.R.S. § 23-375(A)-(E), the written notice must state the employee's earned-paid-sick-time entitlement and amount, the statutory terms of use, the prohibition on retaliation, the right to file a complaint if leave is denied or retaliation occurs, and the Industrial Commission contact information for questions about rights and responsibilities.

The amount depends on employer size. Under § 23-372(A)-(B), (D)(1), employees accrue at least one hour for every 30 hours worked. The annual statutory limit is 40 hours for an employer with 15 or more employees and 24 hours for an employer with fewer than 15, unless the employer selects a higher limit.

The notice must be in English, Spanish, and any other language the Commission deems appropriate. The Commission supplies model notices. The statute states no employee signature or acknowledgment requirement and does not expressly address electronic delivery.

Under § 23-371(F)-(G), sick-time employer coverage includes ordinary private entities and political subdivisions but excludes the State of Arizona and the United States. The incorporated employee definition excludes employment by a parent or sibling and casual babysitting in the employer's home. The fewer-than-15 rule changes the annual amount; it does not eliminate the individual notice.

Minimum-wage coverage adds designated-workweek advice

A.A.C. R20-5-1206(C) states that the workweek is the basis for determining an employee's hourly wage. For an employee covered by that minimum-wage rule, the employer must advise the employee at hire of the designated workweek. The rule does not say that this advice must be written.

Once established, the employer may not change or manipulate the workweek to evade the Act. That restriction is not a general advance-change notice clock, and it does not create a general hire field for normal daily hours or schedule.

Tipped work adds a written wage-related notice

When an employer hires or assigns someone to a position that customarily and regularly receives tips and intends to take a tip credit, A.A.C. R20-5-1207(C) requires written notice before the credit is exercised. Each pay period thereafter, the employer must notify the employee in writing of the amount per hour taken as a tip credit.

This is a narrow tipped-position rule, not a general regular-rate or overtime notice for all employees. R20-5-1210(E)(6) makes a copy of the tip-credit notice part of the required tipped-worker records.

Payroll cards carry a separate fee list

If wages are deposited to a payroll card account, A.R.S. § 23-351(F) requires a written or electronic earnings-and-withholdings statement and a list of all fees associated with the employer-provided card. The statute does not place that fee list in the general hire notice or state a separate hire-time delivery deadline.

Continuing notices and records are not a wage-change rule

A.R.S. § 23-375(C) places on the regular paycheck, or an attachment, the employee's sick time available, sick time taken to date during the year, and pay received as sick time. The tipped-worker rule separately repeats the hourly tip-credit amount each pay period.

Section 23-364(D) requires four years of payroll records covering daily hours, wages, and earned paid sick time, and allows the employee or designated representative to inspect and copy the employee's records. It does not state that the employer must retain a copy of the ordinary sick-time commencement notice or business-contact writing. Arizona's cited general provisions also state no advance notice clock for an ordinary wage-rate change.

Notice penalties are explicit

A.R.S. § 23-375(E) sends a sick-time notice violation to § 23-364(F): at least $250 for a first violation and at least $1,000 for each subsequent or willful violation. A private party injured by an article violation may bring a civil action under A.R.S. § 23-364(E)-(G). The Commission and courts may order appropriate legal or equitable relief, and a prevailing plaintiff receives reasonable attorney fees and costs.

A violation of the separate wage-payment section, including its payroll-card requirements, is a petty offense under § 23-351(I). A.R.S. § 23-364(I) permits counties, cities, and towns to regulate minimum wages and benefits so long as they do not set a lower minimum wage, so local rules can add protections outside this statewide comparison.

What trips people up

There are several notices, but no general wage-rate form. Employer contact information, sick-time rights, designated workweek, and a tipped worker's tip credit come from different provisions with different form and timing rules.

Employer size changes sick-time amount, not notice existence. The annual statutory limit is 24 hours below 15 employees and 40 hours at 15 or more, but the written commencement notice applies in either group.

A salary line does not replace the sick-time notice. A document can state hourly pay or annual salary yet omit the statutory use terms, anti-retaliation statement, complaint right, Commission contact information, and required languages.

Common questions

Can an offer letter carry the required notices?

It can carry a notice only if it is delivered at the required time and contains all of that notice's required information. A conventional offer letter stating pay and a short sick-leave summary is not enough for A.R.S. § 23-375.

Must the employee sign the sick-time notice?

No signature or acknowledgment requirement appears in § 23-375. The notice must be written and provided in the required languages.

Must the employer give advance written notice of a pay cut?

The cited general provisions state no advance written wage-change clock. They do separately require each pay period's written tip-credit amount for a tipped employee when the employer takes that credit.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. §§ 23-362, Version 1, and 23-371. Employee and sick-time employer coverage.

  “Employer” includes any corporation, proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, trust, association, political subdivision of the state, individual or other entity ... but does not include the State of Arizona or the United States.

Official sources: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00362.01.htm and https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00371.htm (accessed 2026-07-22) - A.R.S. §§ 23-364(D), 23-372, and 23-375. Written employer contact information, sick-time amount, commencement notice, languages, model notices, paycheck information, records, and notice penalty.

Employers shall give employees written notice ... at the commencement of employment

Official sources: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00364.htm, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00372.htm, and https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00375.htm (accessed 2026-07-22) - A.A.C. R20-5-1206(C), R20-5-1207(C), and R20-5-1210(E)(6). Designated workweek advice, tipped-worker written notice, recurring tip-credit amount, and notice-copy record.

Upon hiring or assigning an individual to a position that customarily and regularly receives tips ... provide written notice to the employee prior to exercising the tip credit.

Official code: https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_20/20-05.pdf (Supplement 26-2, accessed 2026-07-22) - A.R.S. § 23-351(A), (F), (I). Fixed payday designation, payroll-card statement and fee list, and petty-offense provision.

An employer shall also provide a list of all fees associated with the use of an employer provided payroll card account

Official source: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00351.htm (accessed 2026-07-22) - A.R.S. § 23-364(E)-(I). Civil action, penalties, relief, attorney fees, and local wage/benefit authority.

A civil action to enforce this article may be maintained ... by any private party injured by a violation of this article.

Official source: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00364.htm (accessed 2026-07-22)