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Women are
54%
more likely to
live in poverty
than white men in
Arkansas
Single-woman led households are at the
highest risk
of poverty in
Arkansas
In
Arkansas
, women earn
$0.73
for every dollar a white man makes
Women in
Arkansas
are
63%
more likely to earn
minimum wage
than white men
Women in
Arkansas
are
56%
more likely to earn a
tipped wage
than white men
In
Arkansas
, at least
75%
of women are essential to the financial security of their household
Generally, Arkansas’s equal pay law prohibits an employer from discriminating in the payment of wages as between the sexes and from paying any female employee a salary or wage less than the rate paid to male employees for comparable work.[1]
a) Affirmative Defenses: To justify a pay disparity, an employer can assert that it was based on seniority, experience, training, skill, ability, differences in duties and services performed, differences in the shift or time of the day worked, or any other reasonable differentiation except difference in sex.[2]
b) Retaliation: An employer is prohibited from discharging or discriminating against an employee for making a complaint about pay, instituting any proceedings, or testifying in a proceeding.[3]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-610.
[2] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-610.
[3] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-608.
Yes. The law in Arkansas requires equal pay for “comparable work” instead of equal pay for “equal work.” Arkansas law also replaces the broad affirmative defense “a differential based on any other factor any other than sex” with the narrower “any other reasonable differentiation except difference in sex.”
No. Arkansas law does not mandate any form of employer pay disclosure.
No. Arkansas law does not prohibit employers’ use of salary history in hiring and setting pay.
No. Arkansas law does not include protection for employees’ pay discussions. However, under federal law private sector employers generally cannot prohibit employees from discussing wages, with some exceptions such as supervisors.[1]
[1] Your Right to Discuss Wages, Nat’l Lab. Rels. Bd., https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages (last visited Jun. 21, 2022); see 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169.
No. Arkansas law does not require employers to collect, report, or assess gender-based pay data.
Yes. The state minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage.[1] If an employer violates the state minimum wage law, then the employer can be liable for civil penalties, the unpaid wages, and costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.[2]
Arkansas law prevents localities from setting a minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage.[3]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-210.
[2] Ark. Code Ann. §§ 11-4-218, § 11-4-206.
[3] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-222.
No. Tipped employees can be paid a subminimum wage. The tips they earn must be enough to bring them up to the applicable minimum wage per hour. If the tips do not bring them up to minimum wage, the employer must add enough to their pay to do so.[1]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-212.
Yes. Most employees must be paid at least semi-monthly.[1] However, an employer corporation with an annual gross income of $500,000 or more can pay their management and executive employees who are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act once each month.[2]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-401.
[2] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-401.
No. Arkansas law does not require that employers give workers a written notice of their pay.
Yes. Generally, an employer has to pay overtime (one and one-half times the regular rate of pay) to non-exempt employees for all hours actually worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.[1] Arkansas has adopted the same exceptions as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, meaning overtime requirements do not apply to certain employees like executives, administrative employees, and professional employees.[2]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-211.
[2] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-211; 29 U.S.C. § 213.
Yes. Employees who are owed $2,000 or less may be able to file a wage claim with the Arkansas Department of Labor, which will investigate and adjudicate the claim.[1] Arkansas also imposes a penalty upon employers that fail to pay all wages due on the next regular payday after an employee is discharged.[2] Additionally, an employer who violates the minimum wage law may be liable for civil penalties, unpaid wages, and costs and attorney’s fees.[3]
[1] Ark. Code Ann. §§ 11-4-301 – 06; Wage Claims, Ark. Dep’t of Lab. & Licensing, https://www.labor.arkansas.gov/labor/labor-standards/wage-claims/ (last visited May 15, 2024).
[2] Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-405.
[3] Ark. Code. Ann. § 11-4-218.
