Arizona minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Arizona is $15.15 an hour.

Minimum wage

$15.15

For a 40-hour week

$606.00

Source: A.R.S. 23-363(A)-(B) (Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, Prop. 206): $15.15 effective January 1, 2026; adjusted each January 1 by CPI Read the rule

Employers in Arizona can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $12.15 an hour and count up to $3.00 an hour of tips toward the $15.15 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $15.15 for every hour in each workweek. If they do not, your employer has to make up the difference.

Tips can count toward the wage

Yes

Tipped cash wage

$12.15

Maximum tip credit

$3.00

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: A.R.S. 23-363(C); A.A.C. R20-5-1206 et seq. (an employer may pay a tipped employee up to $3.00 per hour less than the minimum wage if its records show that for each week wages plus tips equal at least the minimum wage for all hours worked; per the Industrial Commission FAQ the employer must give the employee written notice before taking the tip credit) Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$22.725

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$19.725

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $15.15, that is $22.725 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $19.725.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1); 29 CFR 778.107; Fact Sheet #15 (overtime for tipped employees is computed on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage) Read the rule

Arizona does not require meal or rest breaks for adult workers, and neither does federal law. If your employer does give short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, federal law says those minutes are paid.

Source: 29 CFR 785.18 and 785.19 (federal law does not require breaks; short breaks that are given must be paid) Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what Arizona allows:

Required uniforms

Not allowed

Register or cash shortages

Only if pay stays above minimum

Broken dishes or equipment

Only if pay stays above minimum

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Only if pay stays above minimum

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: A.R.S. 23-363; A.A.C. R20-5-1210 (no credit against minimum wage may be taken for tools, equipment, uniforms or other garments required as a condition of employment, including cleaning and maintenance, absent a collective bargaining agreement); A.R.S. 23-352 (other withholdings require a law, a court order, the employee's written authorization, or a reasonable good-faith dispute) Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

No

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

Yes

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in Arizona.

Source: A.R.S. 23-363(C); Industrial Commission FAQ (employees who customarily and regularly receive tips may pool, share or split tips among themselves; a tip credit may be taken only for pool members who customarily and regularly receive tips, so food preparers in a pool cannot be covered by the tip credit) Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: 29 CFR 531.55 (a compulsory service charge is not a tip) Read the rule

Arizona requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

40 hours

Source: A.R.S. 23-372; A.A.C. R20-5-1206 (earned paid sick time: 1 hour per 30 hours worked; accrual and use may be capped at 40 hours per year for employers with 15 or more employees and 24 hours for employers with fewer than 15) Read the rule

Some parts of Arizona law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for Arizona can be off if any of these apply to you:

• If you work in Flagstaff or Tucson, the city minimum wage is higher than the state rate this check used, so the result may understate what you are owed. Tucson also has its own tip rules.
• If your employer takes in less than $500,000 a year and is not covered by federal wage law, the Arizona minimum wage does not apply. This check assumed it does.
• If money was taken from your pay for a cash shortage, breakage or walkout without your written authorization, it may be unlawful in Arizona even though this check only flags deductions that drop you below minimum wage.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

Industrial Commission of Arizona, Labor Department

Phone

602-542-4515

Unpaid wage claims (including improper deductions) up to $12,000 go to the Labor Department within 1 year; minimum wage and earned paid sick time complaints use the Labor Department's separate Minimum Wage / Earned Paid Sick Time complaint forms. The Department does not take overtime claims (federal WHD) and does not enforce city minimum wage ordinances. Phoenix 602-542-4661, Tucson 520-628-5188.

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.