Arkansas Labor Laws

In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) contains vital laws that govern time management and worker compensation, ensuring fair labor practices across various sectors, including non-profit, public, and private organizations. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Employees in Arkansas are offered workplace protections under both federal and state labor laws. Although the state’s time management and labor laws adhere to the federal FLSA, where both laws contradict, the policy with the higher standard applies. Generally, minimum wage, overtime and break laws in Arkansas are as follows:

Employers who violate state or federal time management laws may face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. Workers who believe they have been wrongfully treated at their workplace can file a complaint with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing or the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for investigation and legal action.

The Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 outlines strict policies to protect job applicants and employees from workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Throughout and after the hiring process, employees cannot be discriminated against based on the following protected traits: 

In November 1944, Arkansas, along with Florida, became one of the first states in the US to enact the right-to-work law, restricting labor unions from mandating union membership, affiliation, or due payment as a precondition for employment.

Arkansas also follows the “at-will-employment” policy, which allows an employer or employee to end an employment contract at any time without a reason. However, at-will employment does not allow employers to terminate workers by violating public policy or if the employee refuses to engage in illegal activities.

Lastly, termination laws in Arkansas mandate employers to pay all due wages to discharged employees by their next regularly scheduled payday. Failure to pay an employee’s final paycheck within seven days of their payday will result in a penalty requiring the employer to pay double the amount due.

Some significant labor laws that apply to employers and employees in Arkansas include: 

• Workplace Safety Laws: Public employees’ health and safety on the job is regulated by Arkansas Occupational Safety and Health (AOSH) whereas private-sector employees in the state are protected by the safety regulations of the federal OSHA. Both agencies require employers to provide employees with a safe workplace, free from hazards and diseases. AOSH and OSHA inspectors can carry out workplace inspections to investigate complaints, worker accidents or fatalities, or violations of workplace safety regulations. They can also provide consultation and training for employers and employees regarding occupational safety and health. 
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: Arkansas whistleblowing laws provide public employees protection to report, in good faith, violations of the law within a public organization to an appropriate authority without fear of being punished by their supervisors or employers. Employees who face wrongful retaliation or termination due to whistleblowing may file a lawsuit against their employer to recover damages including lost wages and attorney fees. 
• Health Insurance Laws: State law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance coverage to their full-time employees for the duration of their employment. However, under COBRA, eligible employees (and their dependents) are entitled to continued group health insurance coverage for qualifying reasons including voluntary or non-voluntary job loss, decrease in work hours, change in employment status, family death, or divorce. Note that only businesses with 20 or more employees are subject to COBRA requirements and up to 102% of the plan cost may be paid by the employee.
• Drug & Alcohol Testing Laws: Employers in Arkansas may conduct drug and alcohol tests as a part of the hiring process or routine employee fitness, under due suspicion, as a follow-up to drug rehabilitation, after a workplace accident, or for any other lawful reason. However, note that drug or alcohol tests during the hiring process may only be carried out after a conditional offer of employment has been made. 
• Background Check Laws: State law allows employers in Arkansas to conduct background checks on employees. Before carrying out a background check, employers must duly inform job applicants about the process. Employers are also required to duly inform an applicant if they were rejected from employment due to their conviction history. 
• Recordkeeping Laws:  Employers in Arkansas must maintain accurate employee data for a minimum of three years. These records should include essential information such as the employee’s full name, address, sex and occupation, date of birth (if under 19 years of age), hourly rate of pay, weekly work schedule, overtime compensation rules and records, wage deductions, and wage payment schedules. Although there is no set method for recordkeeping, all records must be readily accessible, securely stored, and subject to inspection at any time.
• Worker’s Compensation Laws: Under the Arkansas Worker’s Compensation Act, employers with three or more employees are required to provide complete necessary medical care to their workers if they suffer from workplace illnesses or injuries. Employees are covered by the Act from the first day of employment and are protected for the entire duration of their contract. Note that any injuries sustained must be reported to a supervisor immediately, otherwise offered benefits may not apply.

A minimum wage is the lowest amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay an employee for the amount of work done in a given time. This amount cannot be negotiated by collective agreement or employment contract policies. 

The minimum wage in Arkansas is regulated by the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act, which has set the state minimum wage at $11 per hour since January 1, 2021. This standard applies to employers with four or more employees. 

However, a tipped employee’s wage must equal the state minimum wage when their hourly cash wage and tipped earnings are combined. If not, the employer must make up the difference.

Full-time students, learners, and apprentices enrolled in vocational programs can be paid subminimum wages that are 85% of the state’s minimum wage. This wage currently equals $9.35 per hour. 

Employees with disabilities can be paid subminimum wages, provided that the employer obtains a special certificate from the US Department of Labor that authorizes them to do so.

Under the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act, the following occupations are also exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the state:

• Executive, administrative, and professional employees earning at least $844 weekly (or $43,888 yearly)
• Commissioned salespersons
• Public and government employees
• Students employed by their educational institutions
• Volunteers 
• Independent contractors
• Agricultural workers employed for less than 500 days
• Hand-harvest laborers (under certain conditions)
• Livestock production workers
• Forestry and logging employees
• Workers employed for less than seven months in a recreational or amusement park
• Domestic employees and babysitters
• Newspaper delivery workers
• Homeworkers making natural wreaths

Arkansas labor law requires all employers in the state to pay their employees semi-monthly. Violating this policy can lead to fines ranging between $50 to $500 for each offense. 

However, businesses earning an annual gross income of $500,000 or more can pay their managerial and executive employees once a month, given that they are also exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA.

Following the FLSA, employees in Arkansas are entitled to receive overtime compensation at a rate that is no less than one and a half times their regular hourly wage for all hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. This amount equals $16.50 per hour. Note that time taken as paid leave is not included in overtime calculations. 

Employees earning at least $844 per week (or $43,888 annually) are considered exempt from overtime pay in Arkansas i.e. they do not receive additional pay for working beyond 40 hours in a workweek. This includes executives, administrators, professionals, outside salespersons, and creative personnel. 

Additionally, the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act outlines a comprehensive list of employees who are exempt from receiving overtime pay, including but not limited to:

• Information technology personnel earning at least $27.63 per hour
• Highly renumerated personnel earning at least $132,964 per year
• Government employees
• Volunteers in religious, non-profit, charitable, or educational organizations
• Independent contractors under certain conditions
• Agricultural and livestock employees 
• Seamen
• Outside buyers of poultry, eggs, and milk
• Announcers, news editors, and chief engineers employed in a major radio or TV station
• Workers involved in maple syrup production
• Criminal investigators receiving availability pay
• Employees in amusement or recreational national parks
• Domestic employees

Certain blue-collar employees, under the FLSA, are entitled to receive overtime pay regardless of their weekly or annual salary level. This includes employees such as manual laborers, emergency service personnel, including firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and their equivalents.

Learn more in detail about Arkansas Salaried Employees Laws and Arkansas Overtime Laws. 

Meal or rest breaks are not mandatory for adult employees in Arkansas. However, employers in Arkansas are required by law to offer breaks to minors under 16 who work in the entertainment industry. 

If an employer wants to provide meal and rest breaks to their employees, they must adhere to the requirements set by the FLSA. Rest periods lasting less than 20 minutes are compensable and must be paid for as working time. 

On the other hand, breaks lasting 30 minutes or longer constitute meal periods and are not paid, given that the employee is completely relieved of their job duties for the duration of the break.   

Employers in Arkansas are legally obliged to provide a reasonable number of breaks to nursing mothers to express breastmilk at the workplace. Breastfeeding employees must be provided a clean and private room, that is not a toilet, at or near their workplace for expressing milk. 

However, employers are not required to provide breastfeeding breaks if they pose an undue hardship to their business. It is also the responsibility of the breastfeeding employee to ensure their breaks cause minimal interference in their employer’s regular mode of operations.

Arkansas labor laws outline several leave types that employees can benefit from, including: 

• Family and Medical Leave: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires companies to offer qualified workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year. This statute applies in a variety of situations, allowing workers to take leave for reasons including childbirth and looking after a newborn, fostering or adopting a child, taking care of a close relative who has a significant medical condition, and a major health issue with the individual that makes it difficult for them to perform their job. Employees are eligible to receive leave under the FMLA if they have worked 1,250 hours in 12 months for an employer with 50 or more employees working in a 75-mile radius. Employees can also take leave to care for a military family member under the FMLA.
• Jury Service Leave: State law protects employees from facing any adverse actions from their employers for taking leave to fulfill jury duty. Employers are not required to compensate employees for the time taken off for jury duty. They can also not require employees to use their paid time off such as sick days or vacation days in place of jury duty leave.
• Voting Leave: Employers in Arkansas are required by law to adjust work schedules on election day in a way that allows employees to take adequate time off to vote. However, time taken off to vote is not paid for. 
• Military Service Leave: Workers, who are part of the US Armed Forces, can take 15 days of paid leave for military duty and training activities. Military leave can be extended without pay if required. State law also preserves all benefits and rights offered to an employee during their job while they are away for duty as well as requires employers to reinstate a discharged worker to their previous job within 90 days of leaving the armed forces. 
• Donation Leave: Employees in Arkansas can take unpaid leave for organ or bone marrow donation. A maximum of 90 days can be granted for donation leave. Private employers can choose to pay employees for donation leave at their own discretion, however, doing so would make the employer eligible for tax credit. Note that employees who qualify for leave under the FMLA are not entitled to donation leave.  
• Sick Leave: Arkansas’ Uniform Attendance and Leave policy grants public employees paid sick leave to take care of their own or an immediate family member’s serious illness or a family member’s death.

The following is a list of official holidays observed in Arkansas for 2025:

Any individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor in Arkansas. 

The minimum age of employment in Arkansas is 14, with certain exceptions. Minors younger than 16 can be employed in occupations deemed safe by the US Department of Labor. 

As of August 1, 2023, work certificates for minors are not legally required, except for children employed in the entertainment industry, who need a special ‘entertainment work permit’ issued by the Director of the Labor Standards Division. More information about entertainment work permits can be found in Arkansas’ Administrative Rules Regarding Child Labor. 

Arkansas has specific laws that regulate workhour schedules for minors based on their age which are as follows: 

For Minors Aged 16

• Work can be scheduled six days a week. 
• A single workday cannot exceed ten hours. Weekly hours may not exceed 54. 
• Shifts lasting more than ten hours can not be scheduled in a 24-hour period.
• Work hours can be scheduled between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. 
• Work schedules can extend to midnight on nights before a non-school day. 

An employer may require a minor to work between midnight and 6 a.m. on a night before a school day. However, there are certain occupations prohibited by state and federal law where a minor aged 16 cannot be employed during these hours, including:

• In retail or convenience stores smaller than 4500 square feet
• In a restaurant (with certain exceptions)
• In an establishment without adult direct supervision
• In locations with alcohol, adult entertainment, or gambling
• At a racetrack, service stop, or truck station
• As a security guard or delivery worker

For Minors Aged Under 16

• Work cannot be scheduled for more than six days in a week.
• Minors can work a maximum of eight hours daily and 48 hours weekly.
• Work hours can be scheduled between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• On a day before a non-school day, work schedules can be extended till 9 p.m.

The following list of occupations are prohibited by state law for minors aged under 16: 

• Exposure to dangerous gases, acids, large quantities of dust, or other hazardous chemicals
• Soldering and scaffolding
• Tunnels, excavation, coal quarries and mining
• Oiling and maintenance of machinery
• Operating dangerous power tools including circular saws, band saws, planers, wood joiners, metal or paper cutting machines, and steam boilers.
• Working on railroads
• Certain agricultural work
• Warehouses and storage locations
• Public messenger services
• Cooking and baking establishments
• Slaughter or meat-processing houses
• Sawmills, logging mills, shingle mills
• Locations storing explosives

For a complete list of occupations prohibited for minors, refer to the Administrative Rules Relating to Child Labor.