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Fired in Arizona: when your last paycheck has to be paid

Being fired does not change what you are owed — it changes the deadline. In Arizona, on discharge, wages due must be paid within seven working days or by the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner (A.R.S. § 23-353).

If that date has passed and the money has not arrived, you are no longer asking for a favour; you are recording a missed legal deadline. That is the difference a demand letter makes.

Statute
A.R.S. § 23-353; § 23-355 (treble damages)
If fired
On discharge, wages due must be paid within seven working days or by the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner (A.R.S. § 23-353).
If you resigned
If you quit, all wages due are payable in the usual manner no later than the regular payday for the pay period in which you stopped working.
Late-pay penalty
A.R.S. § 23-355: an employer that fails to pay wages when due is liable for treble damages — three times the wages owed — where the failure is not justified. The court decides whether the multiplier applies.
PTO
Arizona requires payout of accrued vacation only if the employer's policy or contract creates that right; a written use-it-or-lose-it policy can end the balance.
Small claims limit
$3,500 for an individual
Last verified
2026-11-03 two sources agree

What to put in the file before you write anything

  1. The exact date of your separation as it appears on the termination notice, the last timecard, or the last email from the employer — not the date you were told.
  2. Your final pay stub, or the absence of one, plus your last two regular stubs to prove the rate of pay.
  3. Any text, email or letter that states the reason for the termination. In Arizona the deadline does not depend on the reason, but the record does.
  4. A screenshot of the payroll portal showing the last payment date, so the gap is documented by the employer's own system.

What the letter does that a phone call cannot

A demand letter fixes three things at once: the amount, the date each item was due, and the date the employer was on notice. Every forum that can help you — the Industrial Commission of Arizona — Labor Department, a small claims judge — starts from those three facts. The letter is built from A.R.S. § 23-353; § 23-355 (treble damages) and your own figures, so the deadline it states is the one that applies to your separation, not a generic thirty days.

If the amount fits inside $3,500, small claims court is usually faster than an agency queue; if it does not, the agency route and a demand first is the cheaper path.

Build the Arizona letter — $9.99 Free: calculate my deadline

Questions

Can my employer wait until the next payday after firing me in Arizona?

On discharge, wages due must be paid within seven working days or by the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner (A.R.S. § 23-353).

What can I claim on top of the wages in Arizona?

A.R.S. § 23-355: an employer that fails to pay wages when due is liable for treble damages — three times the wages owed — where the failure is not justified. The court decides whether the multiplier applies.

Other situations in Arizona

resigning · a layoff · unused PTO · unpaid commissions · all Arizona rules

Reviewed 2026-11-03 against the sources listed on the Arizona page. This is a self-help document tool, not legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.