Arizona employers can expect the minimum wage for 2016 to remain at $8.05, the same rate as it was in 2015. The state Industrial Commission issued a release indicating that federal cost of living indexes used to determine wage increases did not warrant an increase in the minimum wage this year. Arizona’s minimum wage rate, however, remains higher that the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 an hour. 

In 2006, Arizona voters passed an initiative that tied wage increases to federal cost of living adjustments. This is the first time since the initiative went into effect that the Industrial Commission of Arizona did not increase the minimum wage.

For additional information on the 2006 initiative, Arizona’s minimum wage, and employer’s obligations you can visit the Industrial Commission’s website at www.azica.gov.