State of Arizona Expands Paid Family Leave Benefits For State Employees

PHOENIX (Sept. 7, 2023) - Honoring a commitment she made to state employees on her first day in office, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs today announced the paid parental leave pilot program for eligible State of Arizona employees.

Effective September 2, the state will provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave to eligible employees following the birth of a child, or new placement of a foster or adoptive child with the employee’s family. 
“In the first days of my administration, I made a commitment to extend paid family leave benefits for State of Arizona employees,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “I believe that a workplace that supports its working families is one that is best equipped to serve the people of Arizona and we are going to continue finding ways to support our state’s talented public servants.”

In addition to the paid parental leave pilot program, the state is also increasing the amount of accrued sick leave an employee may use to care for a sick spouse, dependent child or parent in a given calendar year from 40 hours to 480 hours of earned leave. Lastly, the state is removing the restriction for families where both spouses are state employees, now allowing them to each utilize the 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits, instead of sharing them.  

“These new paid family leave benefits allow more flexibility for state employees and prioritize important bonding time for families,” said Elizabeth Alvarado-Thorson, Director of ADOA. “It will also strengthen the state’s retention and recruitment efforts and keep the state competitive for top talent.”

Creating the program as a pilot will allow the state to gain a better understanding of the impacts through data collection and agency feedback. Employees eligible for the paid parental leave include those in the State Personnel System who have worked for a state agency for a total of 12 months during the past 7 years and who have worked a minimum of 1250 hours during the past year. 

For more information, visit https://hr.az.gov/family-leave-expansion.