State file — Arizona
Severance itself is almost never required by law — but the paper around your exit is. In Arizona, three state rules shape your negotiation: when your last paycheck must arrive, whether a non-compete can follow you to your next job, and what notice a layoff required. If you are 40 or older, the federal clocks (21 or 45 days, plus 7 days to change your mind after signing) apply on top of everything here.
Federal rule only - no Arizona state law giving time to consider or revoke a severance/settlement agreement was found.
Run the deadline checker — it counts the federal clock and Arizona's clock together and gives you the dates.
Generally enforceable under common law - no general Arizona non-compete statute and no earnings threshold. Enforceable only if reasonable in duration, geography and activity and no broader than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. Leading case: Valley Medical Specialists v. Farber, 194 Ariz. 363, 982 P.2d 1277 (1999). Separate statute restricts physician non-competes in some settings (A.R.S. 23-494 is not the general rule - do not rely on it for a typical employee).
Why it matters at the exit table: a non-compete you sign on the way out can matter more than the severance check. If the clause would block your next job, narrowing it is one of the most common — and most granted — negotiation asks.
Discharged (including laid off): pay all wages due within 7 working days or by the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner. (Quit: no later than the regular payday for the pay period in which termination occurred.)
Unused vacation: A.R.S. 23-353 does not separately address accrued vacation; Arizona treats vacation pay as due only as provided by employer policy/agreement (secondary sources).
Final pay is owed whether or not you sign anything. If the date passes without your money, your state labor agency takes these complaints — and many states add penalties for every day of delay.
Arizona has no state layoff-notice law of its own, so the federal WARN Act is the rule: employers with 100+ workers generally owe 60 days' notice of a plant closing or mass layoff (50+ jobs at one site).
Notice failures have their own remedies (back pay for each day of missed notice, in the federal law's case) — separate from the severance agreement, and worth a question if your layoff was large and sudden.
Included in the $49 SeveranceDecoded Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. Works for any severance agreement, any state.
Back to severance laws by state · the deadline checker