WAGES AND HOURS

ARKANSAS

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

STATUTES REGULATING

WAGES

AND

HOURS

IN ARKANSAS

Revised

October, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Minimum Wage and Overtime 3

Wage and Sex Discrimination 13

Wage Disputes 15

Payment of Wages 16

Miscellaneous Laws Affecting

Wages or Hours 19

Time to Vote 19

Jury Duty 19

Wage Assignments 19

Leave of Absence for

Public Service 20

Breaks for Public School

Employees 20

MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME LAW

11-4-201. Title

This subchapter shall be known as the “Minimum Wage Act of the State of

Arkansas”.

11-4-202. Policy

It is declared to be the public policy of the State of Arkansas to establish

minimum wages for workers in order to safeguard their health, efficiency, and

general well-being and to protect them as well as their employers from the ef-

fects of serious and unfair competition resulting from wage levels detrimental

to their health, efficiency, and well-being.

11-4-203. Definitions.

As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Director” means the Director of the Department of Labor;

(2) “Employ” means to suffer or to permit to work;

(3) “Employee” means any individual employed by an employer but shall

not include:

(A) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or

professional capacity, or as an outside commission-paid salesperson who cus-

tomarily performs his or her services away from his or her employer’s prem-

ises taking orders for goods or services;

(B) Students performing services for any school, college, or university in

which they are enrolled and are regularly attending classes;

(D) Any individual engaged in the activities of any educational, charitable,

religious, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship

does not in fact exist or where the services are rendered to the organizations

gratuitously;

(E) Any bona fide independent contractor;

(F) Any individual employed by an agricultural employer who did not use

more than five hundred (500) man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar

quarter of the preceding calendar year;

(G) The parent, spouse, child, or other member of an agricultural em-

ployer’s immediate family;

(H) An individual who:

(i) Is employed as a hand-harvest laborer and is paid on a piece-rate

basis in an operation which has been, and is customarily and generally recog-

nized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment;

(ii) Commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm

on which he or she is so employed; and

(iii) Has been employed in agriculture fewer than thirteen (13) weeks

during the preceding calendar year;

(I) A migrant who:

(i) Is sixteen (16) years of age or under and is employed as a hand-

harvest laborer;

(ii) Is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation which has been, and is

customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis

in the region of employment;

(iii) Is employed on the same farm as his or her parents; and

(iv) Is paid the same piece-rate as employees over age sixteen (16)

years are paid on the same farm;

(J) Any employee principally engaged in the range production of live-

stock;

(K) Any employee employed in planting or tending trees, cruising, survey-

ing, or felling timber or in preparing or transporting logs or other forestry prod-

ucts to the mill, processing plants, or railroad or other transportation terminal if

the number of employees employed by his or her employer in the forestry or

lumbering operations does not exceed eight (8);

(L) An employee employed by a nonprofit recreational or educational

camp that does not operate for more than seven (7) months in any calendar

year;

(M) A nonprofit child welfare agency employee who serves as a house-

parent who is:

(i) Directly involved in caring for children who reside in residential

facilities of the nonprofit child welfare agency and who are orphans, in foster

care, abused, neglected, abandoned, homeless, in need of supervision, or other-

wise in crisis situations that lead to out-of-home placements; and

(ii) Compensated at an annual rate of not less than thirteen thousand

dollars ($13,000) or at an annual rate of not less than ten thousand dollars

($10,000) if the employee resides in the residential facility and receives board

and lodging at no cost;

(N) An employee employed in connection with the publication of a

weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper with a circulation:

(i) Of less than four thousand (4,000); and

(ii) The major part of which is within the county where the newspa-

per is published or counties contiguous to the county where the newspaper

is published;

(O) An employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service employ-

ment to provide:

(i) Babysitting services; or

(ii) Companionship services for individuals who are unable to care

for themselves because of age or infirmity;

(P) An employee engaged in the delivery of newspapers to retail subscrib-

ers; or

(Q) A home worker engaged in:

(i) Making wreaths composed principally of natural holly, pine, ce-

dar, or other evergreens; and

(ii) Harvesting natural holly, pine, cedar, and other evergreens used

in making such wreaths;

(4)(A) “Employer” means any individual, partnership, association, corpo-

ration, business trust, the State, any political subdivision of the State, or

any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest

of an employer in relation to an employee.

(B) “Employer” shall not include any individual, partnership, association,

corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting directly or

indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee for any

workweek in which fewer than four (4) employees are employed;

(5) “Gratuities” means voluntary monetary contributions received by an

employee from a guest, patron, or customer for services rendered;

(6) “Independent contractor” means any individual who contracts to per-

form certain work away from the premises of his or her employer, uses his or

her own methods to accomplish the work, and is subject to the control of the

employer only as to the result of his or her work;

(7) “Man-day” means any day during any portion of which an employee

performs any agricultural labor. Any individual otherwise excluded as an em-

ployee under subdivision (3)(I) of this section shall be considered an employee

in computing man-days of agricultural labor.

(8) “Occupation” means any occupation, service, trade, business, indus-

try, or branch or group of industries or employment or class of employment in

which employees are gainfully employed; and

(9) “Wage” means compensation due to an employee by reason of his or

her employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on

banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value, subject to such de-

ductions, charges, or allowances as may be permitted by this subchapter or by

regulations of the director under this subchapter.

11-4-204. Law most favorable to employees applicable—Liberal construc-

tion.

(a) Any standards relating to minimum wages, maximum hours, or other

working conditions in effect under any other law of this state on May 22, 1968,

which are more favorable to employees than those applicable to employees

under this subchapter or the regulations issued hereunder shall not be deemed

to be amended, rescinded, or otherwise affected by this subchapter but shall

continue in full force and effect and may be enforced as provided by law unless

and until they are specifically superseded by standards more favorable to em-

ployees by operation of or in accordance with regulations issued under this

subchapter.

(b) This subchapter shall be liberally construed in favor of its purposes

and shall not limit any law or policy that requires payment of higher or supple-

mental wages or benefits.

11-4-205. Right of collective bargaining not affected.

Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in

any way diminish the right of employers and employees to bargain collectively

through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages or

other conditions of work.

11-4-206. Penalties.

(a)(1) Any employer who willfully hinders or delays the Director of the

Department of Labor or his or her authorized representative in the performance

of his or her duties in the enforcement of this subchapter, willfully refuses to

admit the director or his or her authorized representative to any place of em-

ployment, willfully fails to make, keep, and preserve any records as required

under the provisions of this subchapter; willfully falsifies any such record,

willfully refuses to make the record accessible to the director or his or her au-

thorized representative upon demand, willfully refuses to furnish a sworn state-

ment of the record or any other information required for the proper enforce-

ment of this subchapter to the director or his or her authorized representative

upon demand; willfully fails to post a summary of this subchapter or a copy of

any applicable regulations as required by §11-4-216, pays or agrees to pay

minimum wages at a rate less than the rate applicable under this subchapter, or

otherwise willfully violates any provision of this subchapter or of any regula-

tion issued under this subchapter shall be deemed in violation of this subchap-

ter and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not fewer than fifty dollars ($50.00)

and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.) for each violation.

(2) For the purposes of this subsection, each violation shall constitute a

separate offense.

(b) Any employer who willfully discharges or in any other manner will-

fully discriminates against any employee because the employee has made any

complaint to his or her employer, or to the director or his or her authorized

representative that he or she has not been paid minimum wages in accordance

with the provisions of this subchapter or because the employee has caused to

be instituted or is about to cause to be instituted any proceeding under or re-

lated to this subchapter or because the employee has testified or is about to

testify in any such proceeding shall be deemed in violation of this subchapter

and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not fewer than fifty dollars ($50.00)

and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation.

shall constitute a separate offense.

(d) The director shall determine the amount of the penalty and shall con-

sider the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business and the grav-

ity of the violation.

(e) The determination by the director shall be final, unless within fifteen

(15) days after receipt of notice thereof by certified mail the person, firm, cor-

poration, partnership, or association charged with the violation notifies the

director in writing that he or she contests the proposed penalty. In the event

that a penalty is contested, a final determination shall be made pursuant to the

Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, §25-15-201 et seq.

(f) Upon a final administrative determination, the amount of the penalty

may be recovered in a civil action brought by the director in a court of compe-

tent jurisdiction without paying costs or giving bond for costs.

(g) Sums collected under this section shall be paid into the Department of

Labor Special Fund.

(h) Assessment of a civil penalty by the director shall be made no later

than three (3) years after the date of the occurrence of the violation.

(i) In addition to the civil penalty provided by this section, the director is

authorized to petition any court of competent jurisdiction, without paying costs

or giving bond for costs, to enjoin or restrain any person, firm, corporation,

partnership, or association who violates the provisions of this subchapter or

any regulation issued thereunder.

11-4-207 and 11-4-208. [Repealed.]

11-4-209. Director of the Department of Labor - Powers and duties.

(a) For any occupation, the Director of the Department of Labor shall

make and revise such administrative regulations, including definitions of

terms, as he or she may deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of this sub-

chapter or necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion thereof and to

safeguard the minimum wage rates established.

(b) The regulations may include, but are not limited to, regulations gov-

erning:

(1) Outside or commission salespersons;

(2) Learners and apprentices, their number, proportion, and length of ser-

vice;

(3) Part-time pay, bonuses, and fringe benefits;

(4) Special pay for special or extra work;

(5) Permitted charges to employees or allowances for board, lodging,

apparel, or other facilities or services customarily furnished by em-

ployers to employees;

(6) Allowances for gratuities; and

(7) Allowances for other special conditions or circumstances which may

be usual in a particular employer-employee relationship.

trative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq.

(d) The director or his or her authorized representatives shall:

(1) Have authority to enter and inspect the place of business or employ-

ment or any employer in the state for the purpose of:

(A) Examining and inspecting any or all books, registers, payrolls, and

other records of any employer that in any way relate to or have a bearing upon

the question of wages, hours, and other conditions of employment of any em-

ployees;

(B) Copy any or all of the books, registers, payrolls, and other records as

he or she may deem necessary or appropriate; and

visions of this subchapter and regulations issued under this subchapter have

been and are being complied with;

(2) Have authority to require from the employer full and correct statements

in writing, including sworn statements, with respect to wages, hours, names,

addresses, and such information pertaining to his or her employees as the di-

rector or his or her authorized representative may deem necessary or appropri-

ate;

(3) Publish all regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter; and

(4) Otherwise implement and enforce the provisions of this subchapter and

the regulations issued under this subchapter.

11-4-210. Minimum wage.

(a) Beginning October 1, 2006, every employer shall pay each of his or

her employees wages at the rate of not less than six dollars and twenty-five

cents ($6.25) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(b) With respect to any full-time student attending any accredited institu-

tion of education within this state and who is employed to work an amount not

to exceed twenty (20) hours during weeks that school is in session or forty (40)

hours during weeks when school is not in session, the rate of wage shall be

equal to but not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the minimum wage pro-

vided in this section.

11-4-211. Overtime.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and §§ 11-4-210 and 11-

4-212, no employer shall employ any of his or her employees for a work week

longer than forty (40) hours unless the employee receives compensation for his

or her employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than

one and one-half (1 1/2) times the regular rate of pay at which he or she is em-

ployed.

(b) The provisions regarding the payment of wages at one and one-half (1

1/2) times the regular rate of pay for overtime services shall not be applicable

with respect to agricultural employees.

law of this state shall be construed to require the payment of compensation at a

greater rate than the normal rate for services performed by agricultural employ-

ees in excess of forty (40) hours per week.

(d) This section shall not apply to any employee exempt from the over-

time requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act pursuant to the pro-

visions of 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1) - (24) and (b)(28) - (30), as they exist on

March 1, 2006.

(e) No public agency shall be deemed to have violated this section with

respect to the employment of any employee in fire protection activities or law

enforcement activities, including security personnel in correctional institutions,

provided that the public agency pays overtime pay in compliance with 29

U.S.C. § 207(k), as it exists on March 1, 2006.

(f) In lieu of overtime compensation, the State of Arkansas and any politi-

cal subdivision of the state may award compensatory time off at a rate of not

less than one and one-half (1 1/2) hours for each hour of employment for

which overtime compensation is required. The compensatory time off may be

provided only:

(1)(A) Pursuant to applicable provisions of a collective bargaining agree-

ment, memorandum of understanding or other agreement between the public

agency and representatives of such employees.

(B) In the case of employees not covered by subsection (f)(1) of this

section an agreement or understanding arrived at between the employer and

employee before the performance of the work; and

(2) If the employee has not terminated employment and has not accrued

compensatory time in excess of the following:

(A) Four hundred eighty (480) hours for police, firefighters, emer-

gency response personnel and employees engaged in seasonal activities; or

(B) Two hundred forty (240) hours for any public employee not oth-

erwise exempt or covered by subsection (f)(2)(A) of this section.

(g) By rule or regulation, the Director of the Department of Labor may

authorize employment in excess of the standard set by subsection (a) of this

section or may authorize the calculation of overtime on a basis other than the

regular rate of pay required by subsection (a) of this section for employment:

(1) Necessitating irregular hours of work;

(2) At a piece rate;

(3) Paying on a commission basis in a retail or service establishment;

(4) In a hospital or enterprise engaged in the care of the sick, the

aged, or the mentally ill;

(5) By an independently-owned-and-controlled local enterprise en-

gaged in the wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products; and

(6) Under a collective bargaining agreement.

11-4-212. Allowance for gratuities.

(a) Every employer of an employee engaged in any occupation in which

gratuities have been customarily and usually constituted and have been recog-

nized as a part of remuneration for hiring purposes shall be entitled to an al-

lowance for gratuities as a part of the hourly wage rate provided in § 11-4-210

in an amount of no less than three dollars and sixty-two cents ($3.62) per hour,

provided that the employee actually received that amount in gratuities and that

the application of the foregoing gratuity allowances results in payment of

wages other than gratuities to tipped employees, including full-time students

subject to the provisions of § 11-4-210, of no less than two dollars and sixty-

three cents ($2.63) per hour.

(b) In determining whether an employee received in gratuities the amount

claimed, the Director of the Department of Labor may require the employee to

show to the satisfaction of the director that the actual amount of gratuities re-

ceived by him or her during any workweek was less than the amount deter-

mined by the employer as the amount by which the wage paid the employee

was deemed to be increased under this section.

11-4-213. Allowance for furnishing board, lodging, apparel, etc.

(a) Every employer of an employee engaged in any occupation in which

board, lodging, apparel, or other items and services are customarily and regu-

larly furnished to the employee for his or her benefit shall be entitled to an al-

lowance for the reasonable value of board, lodging, apparel, or other items and

services as part of the hourly wage rate provided in § 11-4-210 in an amount

not to exceed thirty cents (30¢) per hour.

(b) In determining whether an employee received board, lodging, apparel,

or other items and services having a reasonable value of less than thirty cents

(30¢) per hour during any work week, the Director of the Department of Labor

may require the employee to show to the satisfaction of the director that the

reasonable value of items and services received by the employee was less than

the amount determined by the employer as the amount by which the wage paid

the employee was deemed to be increased under this section.

11-4-214. Handicapped workers.

(a) Any person handicapped by lack of skill, age, or physical or mental

deficiency or injury in any way that his or her earning capacity is impaired

shall be granted a temporary special exemption license or permit authorizing

the employment of the person at wages lower than the minimum prescribed in

this subchapter until such time as the Director of the Department of Labor shall

hold a hearing and prescribe regulations regarding exemption of these persons

as authorized in this section.

(b)(1) The director may provide by regulation, after notice and public

hearing at which any person may be heard, for the employment in any occupa-

tion of individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or

mental deficiency or injury at wages lower than the minimum wage rate pro-

vided in § 11-4-210 as he or she may find appropriate to prevent curtailment of

opportunities for employment, to avoid undue hardship, and to safeguard the

minimum wage rate under this subchapter.

(2) In addition, the director, by regulation or special order, may provide

for the employment of handicapped clients in work activities centers under

special certificates at wages which are less than the minimum prescribed in

§ 11-4-210 which the director determines constitutes equitable compensation

for the clients in work activities centers.

shall mean centers planned and designed exclusively to provide therapeutic

activities for handicapped clients whose physical and mental impairment is so

severe as to make their productivity capacities inconsequential.

11-4-215. Learners, apprentices, and full-time students.

(a) For any occupation the Director of the Department of Labor may pro-

vide, by regulation, after a public hearing at which any person may be heard,

for the employment in the occupation of learners, apprentices, and full-time

students at wages lower than the minimum wage rate provided in § 11-4-

210(b) as he or she may find appropriate to prevent curtailment of opportuni-

ties for employment and to safeguard the minimum wage rate under this sub-

chapter.

(b) No employee shall be employed at wages fixed pursuant to this sec-

tion, except under special license issued under applicable regulations of the

director.

11-4-216. Posting of law.

(a) Every employer subject to any provisions of this subchapter or of any

regulations issued under this subchapter shall keep a summary of this subchap-

ter, approved by the Director of the Department of Labor, and copies of any

applicable regulations issued under this subchapter, or a summary of the regu-

lations approved by the director, posted in a conspicuous and accessible place

in or about the premises wherein any person subject thereto is employed.

(b) Employers shall be furnished copies of the summaries of this statute

and regulations by the director on request without charge.

11-4-217. Records kept by employer.

(a) Every employer subject to any provision of this subchapter or of any

regulation issued under this subchapter shall make and keep for a period of not

less than three (3) years in or about the premises wherein any employee is em-

ployed a record of the name, address, and occupation of each of his or her em-

ployees, the rate of pay, the amount paid each pay period to each employee,

and such other information as the Director of the Department of Labor shall

prescribe by regulation as necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the

provisions of this subchapter or of the regulations under this subchapter.

(b) The records shall be open for inspection or transcription by the director

or his or her authorized representative at any reasonable time.

representative on demand a sworn statement of the records and information

upon forms prescribed or approved by the director.

11-4-218. Employee’s remedies.

(a)(1) Any employer who pays any employee less than minimum wages,

including overtime compensation or compensatory time off as provided for by

this subchapter, to which the employee is entitled under or by virtue of this

subchapter shall:

(A) Pay any applicable civil penalties; and

(B) Be liable to the employee affected for:

(i) The full amount of the wages, less any amount actually

paid to the employee by the employer; and

(ii) Costs and such reasonable attorney’s fees as may be

allowed by the court.

(2) The employee may be awarded an additional amount up to, but not

greater than, the amount under subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i) of this section to be

paid as liquidated damages.

(b) Any agreement between the employee and employer to work for less

than minimum wages shall be no defense to the action.

which the services which are the subject of the employment were performed.

(d)(1) The Director of the Department of Labor shall have the authority to

fully enforce this subchapter by instituting legal action to recover any wages

that he or she determines to be due to employees under this subchapter.

(2) No legal action shall be brought by the director until after notice and

opportunity for hearing pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure

Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., and entry of a final administrative order.

(3)(A) Following any appeals taken pursuant to the Arkansas Administra-

tive Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., the director shall be entitled to enforce

his or her final administrative order in any court of competent jurisdiction

without paying costs or giving bond for costs.

(B) The director’s findings of fact shall be conclusive in any such proceed-

ing.

(e)(1) An employee may bring an action for equitable and monetary relief

against an employer, including the State of Arkansas or a political subdivision

of the state, if the employer pays the employee less than the minimum wages,

including overtime wages, to which the employee is entitled under or by virtue

of this subchapter.

(2) If the employee brings an action under this subsection, then any

complaint before the director by the employee on the same matter shall be dis-

missed with respect to that employee.

(3)(A) The employee shall not be required to exhaust administrative

remedies before bringing an action.

(B) There shall be no procedural, pleading, or burden of proof

requirements beyond those that apply generally to civil suits in order to main-

tain the action.

11-4-219. Judicial review.

(a) Any interested person in any occupation for which any administrative

regulation has been issued under the provisions of this subchapter who may be

aggrieved by any regulation may obtain a review thereof in the circuit court of

the county of the residence of the aggrieved party by filing in the court within

twenty (20) days after the date of publication of the regulation a written peti-

tion praying that the regulation be modified or set aside.

(b) A copy of the petition shall be served upon the Director of the Depart-

ment of Labor.

(c)(1) The court shall review the record of the proceedings before the di-

rector, and the director’s findings of fact shall be affirmed if supported by sub-

stantial evidence. The court shall determine whether the regulation is in accor-

dance with law.

(2) If the court determines that the regulation is not in accordance with

law, it shall remand the case to the director with directions to modify or revoke

the regulation.

(d)(1) If application is made to the court for leave to adduce additional

evidence by any aggrieved party, the party shall show to the satisfaction of the

court that the additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable

grounds for the failure to adduce the evidence before the director.

(2) If the court finds that the evidence is material and that reason-

able grounds exist for failure of the aggrieved party to adduce the evi-

dence in prior proceedings, the court shall remand the case to the director with

directions that the additional evidence be taken before the director.

(3) The director may modify his or her findings and conclusions, in whole

or in part, by reason of the additional evidence.

(e) Hearings in the circuit court on all appeals taken under the provisions

of this subchapter shall take precedence over all matters except matters of the

same character. The jurisdiction of the court shall be exclusive and its judg-

ment and decree shall be final, except that it shall be subject to review by the

Supreme Court.

(f)(1) The commencement of proceedings under subsections (a)-(d) of this

section, unless specifically ordered by the court, shall not operate as a stay of

an administrative regulation issued under the provisions of this subchapter.

(2) The court shall not grant any stay of an administrative regulation

unless the person complaining of the regulation shall file an amount in the

court, undertaking with a surety satisfactory to the court, for payment to the

employees affected by the regulation in the event that the regulation is af-

firmed. The surety shall be in an amount by which the compensation the em-

ployees are entitled to receive under the regulation exceeds the compensation

they actually receive while the stay is in effect.

11-4-220. Person entitled to file a claim.

(a) Any employee covered by this subchapter may file a claim with the

Director of the Department of Labor charging that an employer has violated §

11-4-210 or §11-4-211 as to any employee or other person.

(b) The director shall promptly investigate each claim.

until the director issues an administrative complaint or the director is ordered

to release the information by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

WAGE AND SEX DISCRIMINATION

11-4-601. Discrimination on the basis of sex prohibited.

(a) Every employer in the state shall pay employees equal compensation

for equal services, and no employer shall discriminate against any employee in

the matter of wages or compensation solely on the basis of the sex of the em-

ployee.

(b) An employer who violates or fails to comply with the provisions of this

section shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, and each day that the viola-

tion or failure to comply continues shall be a separate offense.

11-4-602 - 11-4-606. [Reserved.]

11-4-607. Definitions for §§ 11-4-608 - 11-4-612.

As used in §§ 11-4-608 - 11-4-612, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1)(A) “Employees” shall mean any person employed for hire in any law-

ful business, industry, trade, profession, or enterprise.

(B) However, it shall not include persons engaged in domestic service in

the home of the employer; in agricultural service, or in temporary or seasonal

employment; employees of any social club, fraternal, charitable, educational,

religious, scientific, or literary association, no part of the net earnings of which

inures to the benefit of any private individual;

(2) “Employer” shall include any person, natural or artificial, acting in the

interest of an employer directly or indirectly;

(3) “Employment” means any employment under contract of hire, ex-

pressed or implied, written or oral.

11-4-608. Penalties for violation of §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612.

Any employer who violates any provision of §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612, or

who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee

because the employee has made a complaint to his or her employer, the Direc-

tor of the Department of Labor, or any other person, has instituted or caused to

be instituted any proceedings under or related to §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612, or

has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding shall be fined not

more than five hundred dollars ($500) nor imprisoned more than one (1) year,

or both.

11-4-609. Administration of §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612.

The Director of the Department of Labor shall have the power and it shall

be his or her duty to carry out and administer the provisions of §§ 11-4-607 -

11-4-612.

11-4-610. Wage discrimination between sexes prohibited.

(a) No employer shall discriminate in the payment of wages as between

the sexes or shall pay any female in his or her employ salary or wage rates less

than the rates paid to male employees for comparable work.

(b) Nothing in §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612 shall prohibit a variation in rates of

pay based upon a difference in seniority, experience, training, skill, ability,

differences in duties and services performed, differences in the shift or time of

day worked, or any other reasonable differentiation except difference in sex.

11-4-611. Action to collect unpaid wages.

(a) An employer who violates the provisions of § 11-4-610 shall be liable

to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid wages.

(b)(1) Action to recover the wages may be maintained in any court of

competent jurisdiction by any one (1) or more employees.

(2) Any agreement between the employer and the employee to work for

less than the wage to which the employee is entitled under §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-

612 shall be no defense to the action.

(3) In addition to any wages recovered, the court in the action shall allow

an additional equal amount of liquidated damages plus a reasonable attorney’s

fee and court costs.

(4) At the request of any employee paid less than the wage to which he or

she is entitled under §§11-4-607 - 11-4-612, the Director of the Department of

Labor may take an assignment of the wage claim in trust for the employee and

shall bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim. The director shall

not be required to pay any court costs in connection with the action.

tion of §11-4-610 must be commenced within two (2) years of the accrual

thereof and not afterwards.

11-4-612. Employer to keep records.

(a) Every employer subject to §§ 11-4-607 - 11-4-612 shall keep and

maintain records of the salaries and wage rates, job classifications, and other

terms and conditions of employment of the persons employed by him or her,

and the records shall be preserved for a period of three (3) years.

(b) The records shall also be made available to the parties and to the court

wherein an action to recover unpaid wages under this subchapter is pending.

WAGE DISPUTES

11-4-301. Definition.

For the purpose of this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires,

the term “labor” shall include all or any work or service performed by any per-

son employed for any period of time where the wages or salary or remunera-

tion for the work or services is to be paid at stated intervals or at the termina-

tion of the employment, or for physical work actually performed by an inde-

pendent contractor, provided that the amount in controversy does not exceed

the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000).

11-4-302. Act cumulative.

This subchapter is a substitute for Acts 1923, No. 380, but apart from that act

is cumulative in its effect and shall not be so construed as to nullify or repeal

the laws not existing with regard to liens.

11-4-303. Director of Department of Labor to conduct hearing.

(a) Upon application of either employer or employee, the Director of the

Department of Labor or any person authorized by the director shall have au-

thority to inquire into, hear, and decide disputes arising from wages earned and

shall allow or reject any deduction from wages.

(b) Upon motion of either employer or employee, the amount found to be

due may be paid in the presence of the director or person designated by him or

her, and after final hearing by the director or person appointed by him or her,

he or she shall file in the office of the Department of Labor a copy of findings

and facts and his or her award.

amount of wages, if any, due and unpaid to the employee.

11-4-304. Judicial review.

(a) If either employer or employee shall fail or refuse to accept the find-

ings of the Director of the Department of Labor, then either shall have the right

to proceed at law as provided.

(b) If the claim is meritorious, and if within the discretion of the director

the claimant’s lack of financial ability entitles him to the services of the depart-

ment, the director in the name of the State of Arkansas, for the benefit of the

claimant, may institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction, without

paying costs or giving bond for costs, and shall be entitled to all remedies

available to litigants in the prosecution of actions and their enforcement, if

successful.

ful defendant from paying costs.

11-4-305. Enforcement of laborer's lien.

(a) In all cases where the claimant is entitled to a laborer's lien or a lien on

a thing or property worked on, the lien may be enforced as otherwise provided

for by law, except that where a sheriff or constable is authorized to take charge

of property subject to a lien claim and hold it subject to the decision of the

court, as in cases of attachment, the sheriff or constable, upon the claimant's

otherwise complying with the law regarding attachments and upon the claim-

ant's filing an affidavit with the clerk of the court that he or she is unable to

make an attachment bond, shall take the defendant's receipt for the property

described in the plaintiff's statement as required by § 18-43-106, and the prop-

erty shall be left in the possession of the defendant.

(b) The defendant shall exercise full dominion over the property as if it

had not been attached except that he or she may not give it away. The defen-

dant may sell, pledge, mortgage, or otherwise alienate or encumber the prop-

erty if the proceeds therefrom bear a reasonable relation to the value of the

lien, so that the person purchasing or taking an encumbrance upon the property

shall possess superior rights to the lien claimant.

(c)(1) The defendant, however, selling or encumbering the property shall

be held accountable to the court for the proceeds of the sale or encumbrance

and shall file with the clerk of the court at the time of making the sale, or

charging the property with an encumbrance, a statement giving the name of the

purchaser or encumbrancer, his or her address, and the amount realized from

the sale or encumbrance.

(2) The defendant shall also notify the plaintiff of the filing of the state-

ment.

(d) If, upon the successful termination of the litigation in favor of the lien

claimant, the defendant fails within five (5) days to pay into the registry of the

court where the action was originally instituted the proceeds from the sale or

encumbrance, the defendant shall be held to be in contempt of court and pun-

ished as for contempt.

11-4-306. Fees prohibited.

The Director of the Department of Labor or any person designated by him

or her shall not charge or be permitted to accept any fees or remuneration

whatsoever from any person for the performance of any duties under this sub-

chapter.

PAYMENT OF WAGES

11-4-401. Payment semimonthly.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, all corporations

doing business in this state who shall employ any salespersons, mechanics,

laborers, or other servants for the transaction of their business shall pay the

wages of the employees semimonthly.

(b) Any corporation that shall, through its president or otherwise, violate

subsections (a) and (c) of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor

and on conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars ($50.00)

nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each offense.

dollars ($500,000), or more, doing business in this state who shall employ any

salespersons, mechanics, laborers, or other servants for the transaction of their

business shall pay the wages of their management level and executive employ-

ees who are exempt under the provisions of Section 213 of the Fair Labor

Standards Act, from the provisions of Sections 206 and 207 of that act, and

who are compensated at a gross rate in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars

($25,000) per year, at a minimum of once each calendar month.

11-4-402. Discount for advance payment - Payments made in currency.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any milling or manufacturing company, or any

other person, corporation, or company employing persons to labor for them in

the State of Arkansas, to discount the wages of their employees or laborers

when payment is made or demanded before the regular paydays more than at

the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from the date of payment to the regu-

lar payday.

(b)(1)(A) All employees shall be paid in currency, or by check or elec-

tronic direct deposit into the employee’s account.

(B) The employee may opt out of electronic direct deposit by providing

the employer a written statement requesting payment by check.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, an employee has a right

to be paid in currency if the employer has at any time paid the employee with a

check drawn on an account with insufficient funds.

(3) This subsection (b) does not apply to any demand or claim by the De-

partment of Labor.

meanor. The person, company, or corporation, or his, her, or its agents, violat-

ing this section shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor

more than five hundred dollars ($500), and the entire property of the person,

company, or corporation shall be subject to the payment of the fine and costs.

11-4-403. Payment by evidence of indebtedness.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, company, firm, or person en-

gaged in any trade or business in this state, either directly or indirectly, to is-

sue, sell, give, or deliver to any person employed by the corporation, company,

firm, or person, in payment of wages, whether the wages are earned or not, any

scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness payable or redeem-

able otherwise than in lawful money, at the next regular payday of the corpora-

tion, company, firm, or person.

(b) If the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness is

issued, sold, given or delivered to the laborer, it shall be construed, taken, and

held in all courts and places to be promise to pay the sum specified therein in

lawful money by the corporation, company, firm, or person issuing, selling,

giving, or delivering the same to the person named therein or the holder

thereof.

delivering the evidence of indebtedness in violation of subsection (a) of this

section shall, moreover, be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall

be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and not more than one hun-

dred dollars ($100). At the discretion of the court trying the action, the officer

or agent of the corporation, company, firm, or person issuing, selling, giving,

or delivering the evidence of indebtedness may be imprisoned not less than ten

(10) nor more than thirty (30) days.

(d) In any suit by any holder of the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evi-

dence of indebtedness or in any prosecution under the provisions of this sec-

tion, it shall not be required of the plaintiff in the suit or the state in the prose-

cution to prove that the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebt-

edness was sold, given, issued, or delivered by the defendant in the suit or

prosecution to any laborer or employee in payment of wages of the laborer or

employee.

(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to coal mines when fewer

than twenty (20) men are employed under the ground.

11-4-404. Payment by sale of goods or supplies.

(a) If any corporation, company, firm, or person shall coerce or compel or

attempt to coerce or compel any employee in its employment to purchase

goods or supplies in payment of wages, whether the wages are earned or not,

from any corporation, company, firm, or person, the first-named corporation,

company, firm, or person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon convic-

tion shall be punished as provided in § 11-4-403.

(b) If any corporation, company, firm, or person shall directly or indirectly

sell to any employee in payment of wages, whether earned or not, goods and

supplies at prices higher than a reasonable or current market value thereof in

cash, the corporation, company, firm, or person shall be liable to the employee,

in a civil action in double the amount of the charges made and paid for any

goods and supplies in excess of the reasonable or current value in cash thereof.

than twenty (20) men are employed under the ground.

11-4-405. Payment on discharge.

(a)(1) Whenever any railroad company or corporation or any receiver op-

erating any railroad engaged in the business of operating or constructing any

railroad or railroad bridge shall discharge, with or without cause, or refuse to

further employ any servant or employee thereof, the unpaid wages of the ser-

vant or employee then earned at the contract rate, without abatement or deduc-

tion, shall be and become due and payable on the day of the discharge or re-

fusal to longer employ.

(2) Any servant or employee may request of his foreman or the keeper of

his or her time to have the money due him or her, or a valid check therefor,

sent to any station where a regular agent is kept. If the money or a valid check

therefor does not reach the station within seven (7) days from the date it is so

requested, then, as a penalty for the nonpayment, the wages of the servant or

employee shall continue from the date of the discharge or refusal to further

employ at the same rate until paid. However, the wages shall not continue

more than sixty (60) days unless an action therefor shall be commenced within

that time.

(b) This section shall apply to all companies and corporations doing busi-

ness in this state and to all servants and employees thereof. Any servants or

employees who shall hereafter be discharged or refused further employment

may request or demand the payment of any wages due and, if not paid within

seven (7) days from discharge or refusal to longer employ, than the penalties

provided in subdivision (a)(2) of this section for railway employees shall at-

tach.

time and who is discharged without cause before the expiration of that time

may, in addition to the penalties prescribed by this section, have an action

against any employer for any damages he or she may have sustained by reason

of the wrongful discharge, and the action may be joined with an action for un-

paid wages and penalty.

(d) No servant or employee who secretes or absents himself to avoid pay-

ment to him or her, or refuses to receive payment when fully tendered, shall be

entitled to any benefit under this section for the time as he or she so avoids

payment.

MISCELLANEOUS LAWS AFFECTING WAGES OR HOURS

7-1-102. Work time to be scheduled for voting - Penalty.

Each employer in the state shall schedule the work hours of employees on

election days so that each employee will have an opportunity to exercise the

right of franchise. Any employer who fails or refuses to comply with the pro-

visions of this section shall upon conviction be subject to a fine of not less than

twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

11-4-101. Assignment of wages.

(a) No assignment or order for wages to be earned in the future to secure a

loan of less than two hundred dollars ($200) shall be valid against any em-

ployer of the person making the assignment or order until the assignment or

order is accepted in writing by the employer and the assignment or order and

the acceptance of it has been filed with the recorder of the county where the

party making the assignment or order resides if a resident of this state or in the

state where he or she is employed.

(b) No assignment of or order for wages to be earned in the future shall be

valid when made by a married man, unless the written consent of his wife to

making such assignment or order for wages shall be attached thereto.

16-31-106. Penalty for employees’ service prohibited.

(a)(1) Any person who is summoned to serve on jury duty shall not be

subject to discharge from employment, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time,

or any other form of penalty as a result of his or her absence from employment

due to jury duty, upon giving reasonable notice to his or her employer of the

summons.

(2) No employer shall subject an employee to discharge, loss of sick leave,

loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty on account of his or her

absence from employment by reason of jury duty.

(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a

Class A misdemeanor.

21-4-101. Leave of absence for public service.

(a) Any person who is employed by any person, firm, or corporation in the

State of Arkansas shall be granted a leave of absence, upon the election of any

such employee to a public office in the State of Arkansas, or upon appointment

by the Governor of any such person to a board or commission in the State of

Arkansas, which office requires the employee’s absence from their employ-

ment.

(b) The leave of absence shall be for such period as the employee may

request, not to exceed the duration of the term of office to which the employee

has been elected.

to impair the employee’s seniority rights of the job, nor shall the departmental

seniority of the employee be broken for job purposes.

NOTE: The Arkansas Prevailing Wage Law concerning minimum wage rates

for public construction works, Ark. Code Ann. §§22-9-301 et seq., is printed in

a separate publication.

BREAKS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

6-17-2205 Paid breaks for certain classified employees.

For those classified employees working more than twenty (20) hours per

week:

(1)(A) Each school district in the state shall provide no fewer than two (2)

paid fifteen-minute breaks during each regular workday for each classified

school employee.

(B) The contract day shall not be extended to provide for this section;

and

(2) Each school district shall file an affidavit for compliance with the De-

partment of Education regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act for classified

employees unless the school district policies or state laws impose higher stan-

dards.

The Arkansas Department of Labor does not discriminate on

the basis of disability in employment or in the admission or access to, or

treatment or employment in, its programs, services, or activities. Becky

Bryant, Arkansas Department of Labor, 10421 West Markham, Little

Rock, Arkansas 72205-2190, (501) 682-4540 (voice) 1-800-285-1131

(TDD) e-mail becky.bryant@arkansas.gov has been designated to coordi-

nate compliance with the non-discrimination requirements contained in

28 CFR 35.107 of the Department of Justice regulations. Information

concerning the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and

the rights provided thereunder, are available from the ADA coordinator.