Arkansas Overtime Laws & Calculator

Weekly. Arkansas sets no daily threshold, so a twelve-hour day owes no premium on its own — those hours go into the week's total like any others, and the count that decides your pay is hours past 40 in a single workweek.

No. Four ten-hour days is 40 hours, and the weekly rule starts past 40 hours, not at them. Day length does not matter in Arkansas: four tens, five eights and three long shifts all pay the same if the week's total is the same.

No Arkansas statute sets a double-time rate. Where double time appears on a stub here it comes from a union agreement, a company policy or a holiday practice — worth having in writing, but it is an agreement rather than the law. What the statute requires is time and a half past 40 hours in a workweek, with no daily threshold.

Arkansas has no seventh-day rule. Those hours count toward the workweek like any others, so a seven-day stretch usually produces overtime through the weekly total instead: seven eight-hour days is 56 hours, of which 16 are past 40.

Yes. The Minimum Wage Act of the State of Arkansas has its own overtime section, Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-211(a), which the state's rules treat as the Act's overtime provision (11 CAR § 11-603). The Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing says that in most cases an employer must pay overtime, at one and one-half times the regular rate, to non-exempt employees for all hours actually worked over 40 in a workweek, and that hours paid but not worked, such as a holiday or a sick day, do not count as hours worked for state or federal overtime. The state law covers only employers with four or more employees: the rules' definition of employer leaves out an employer for any workweek in which fewer than four employees are employed, and employees who are themselves exempt still count toward the four (11 CAR §§ 11-102, 11-601). The U.S. Department of Labor describes federal coverage differently. It covers all employees of certain enterprises (for example, those with annual gross sales of at least $500,000, among other tests), and employees of firms that are not covered enterprises can still be covered if they are individually engaged in interstate commerce or in producing goods for interstate commerce. So an employee of a business below Arkansas's four-employee line may still be covered by federal law. Arkansas also lists its own overtime-only exemptions in 11 CAR § 11-603, which begins with agricultural employees, in addition to the exemptions from both minimum wage and overtime in 11 CAR § 11-602. And the federal statutes and regulations that Arkansas's rules incorporate are tied to earlier editions (for example, the July 2018 edition of 29 C.F.R.), and the rules say later amendments are not included (11 CAR § 11-103).

Arkansas sets a two-year statute of limitations for civil claims under its Minimum Wage Act, which includes the overtime section (Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-218(g), added by Act 853 of 2019). The state labor division's assessment period for a claim is the two years before the claim is filed, and it can run through the date the division issues a notice of assessment if the division determines that a violation hindered its investigation (11 CAR § 11-1101). The U.S. Department of Labor says the federal limit is generally two years, or three years for willful violations, while the Arkansas statute states two years with no separate period for willful violations. Liquidated damages also work differently. Under § 11-4-218(a)(2), an Arkansas employee may be awarded an additional amount up to the unpaid wages as liquidated damages only if the employee proves the violation was willful, and the division likewise assesses liquidated damages only for willful violations and only up to the back wages assessed (11 CAR § 11-1104). The U.S. Department of Labor says the federal law allows recovery of back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages where overtime violations exist.

Arkansas minimum wage and overtime complaints go to the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. The department's minimum wage and overtime page says that if you believe you are not being paid overtime properly, you can file a complaint through a link on that page. The state's rules say an employee may file a claim with the Division of Labor of the Department of Labor and Licensing, on a form or process the division approves (11 CAR § 11-1101). The department's page names its Labor Standards Division as the unit that administers and enforces the state wage statutes in title 11 of the Arkansas Code, and it lists (501) 682-4599 for that division for further information on overtime exemptions and special overtime provisions. If your problem is collecting a final paycheck, the department says to use its wage claim section instead of the complaint form. Under 11 CAR § 11-1101, the division investigates each claim and then either issues a notice of assessment or sends a letter saying no violation was found. The name of an employee identified in a claim stays confidential until the division issues a notice of assessment.

Usually, yes. The multiplier is applied to the regular rate, not to your base wage, and the regular rate takes in nondiscretionary bonuses, production and attendance bonuses, and shift differentials for the week they were earned. An overtime hour in a week with a night differential is worth more than base × 1.5. Bonuses that are genuinely discretionary — not promised in advance — stay out of it. The federal rules for building the regular rate are at 29 C.F.R. Part 778 and apply in Arkansas.

Not by itself. A salary is a way of paying, not an exemption. The white-collar exemptions turn on the work actually performed together with how and how much you are paid, and the duties tests at 29 C.F.R. Part 541 do not include job titles. A salaried employee whose duties fall outside those tests is owed overtime on the same 40-hour week as anyone else.