The rule in Arkansas
In Arkansas, hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate. There is no general daily limit, so a 12-hour day inside a 36-hour week earns no overtime.
The US Department of Labor's state table adds: “Applies to employers with 4 or more employees.”
Employers with four or more employees
Applies to employers with 4 or more employees.
What counts toward your regular rate
Overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate of pay: everything you earned for the week at straight time, divided by every hour you worked.
Counts
- Your hourly pay for every hour worked, at each rate you worked
- Non-discretionary bonuses — attendance, production, safety, or any bonus promised in advance
- Commissions
- Shift differentials for nights, weekends or hazardous work
Does not count
- Discretionary bonuses and gifts, where both the fact and the amount were up to the employer
- Expense reimbursements
- Pay for time not worked: vacation, holidays, sick days
A worked example
Common mistakes employers make in Arkansas
- Counting holiday or sick pay toward the 40 hours. Arkansas counts only hours actually worked, so a paid day off never pushes the week into overtime on its own.
- Offering compensatory time off instead of overtime pay. Only public agencies may do that in Arkansas; a private employer has to pay cash.
- Docking pay for breakage or a till shortage. Arkansas does not allow deductions for spoilage, breakage, cash shortages or lateness fines to take an employee below the minimum wage.
Other Arkansas pay rules worth knowing
- Final paycheck if fired: By your next regularly scheduled payday. The date depends on your pay schedule, not on when you were let go.
- Unused PTO: No Arkansas law requires a vacation, sick, holiday, bonus or severance payout. The state will only take a claim for one if you can produce the company policy promising it.
- Late final pay: A discharged employee who is not paid within 7 days of the next regular payday is owed double the wages due (Ark. Code § 11-4-405(b)). No written demand is needed, but the doubling is collected through a wage claim or a lawsuit.
Arkansas final paycheck law and deadline calculator →
Arkansas overtime: common questions
Does my employer have to pay overtime if they didn't approve it?
Yes. Time your employer knew you were working, or allowed you to work, counts as hours worked, whether or not anyone approved it in advance. An employer can discipline you for breaking an overtime policy, but it still has to pay overtime for those hours — in Arkansas as everywhere else under federal law.
Does my bonus change my overtime rate?
Yes, if the bonus is non-discretionary — promised for attendance, production, safety or hitting a target. It is added to your straight-time pay and divided by all the hours you worked, and your overtime is 1.5 times that higher rate. Discretionary gifts, expense reimbursements and paid time off are left out.
Does Arkansas overtime law cover my employer?
Only if it had four or more employees that workweek — and workers who are themselves exempt still count toward the four. Below that, the state law does not apply at all, though the federal Fair Labor Standards Act may still cover you. Where both apply, the employer must follow whichever rule pays more.
What is a workweek, and can my employer change it?
A workweek is a fixed, recurring block of seven consecutive 24-hour days, and it can start on any day and at any hour. Overtime is counted per workweek, never averaged across two, even when you are paid every two weeks. Your employer can change the start day, but only permanently and not to avoid paying overtime.
If you think you were underpaid
- Keep your own record of the hours you worked — the time card calculator totals them and exports a CSV — plus photos of the posted schedule and messages about shifts.
- Ask your employer in writing to correct the pay. Email beats a conversation because it creates a dated record.
- File a wage claim — File a wage claim with the Arkansas Division of Labor through its Citizen's Portal. The claim must be $2,000 or less, and it is closed to anyone earning more than $50,000 a year; larger claims go to small claims court. It is free, and you do not need a lawyer.
- Federal overtime claims must generally be brought within 2 years of the underpayment, or 3 years if the violation was willful.
Spotted something wrong? Report an error.
Other states that also add their own exception to the 40-hour rule: Connecticut, Hawaii and Kansas.
Work across a state line? Louisiana overtime rules and Mississippi overtime rules.