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You quit in Arizona — when is your final paycheck due?

Employers often tell departing employees that quitting forfeits the last paycheck, or that pay will arrive "when payroll gets to it". Neither is the law in Arizona.

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.

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. Your written resignation and the date it was delivered — email timestamps are enough, and the delivery date is what starts the clock.
  2. Whether you gave notice, and how much: some states shorten or lengthen the deadline based on notice, and the letter has to state it accurately.
  3. Your final timesheet or shift records for the last pay period, including any hours worked after you announced you were leaving.
  4. Any policy the employer says forfeits pay, PTO or commissions. Ask for it in writing — that request is itself part of the record.

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

Does giving notice change my final pay date in Arizona?

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.

Can my employer hold my last check until I return equipment in Arizona?

Not lawfully as a condition of wages. Deductions and offsets are limited, and holding earned wages to force the return of property is the kind of self-help that turns a wage claim into a penalty claim.

Other situations in Arizona

being fired · 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.