Is an Arkansas employer required to give me a pay stub?

The state labour department publishes rules on minimum wage, overtime, deductions, final pay and wage claims, and none of that material sets out a wage statement requirement. In practice employers issue stubs anyway, because federal recordkeeping and the state withholding rules both depend on knowing what was paid and what was taken out.

What is the Arkansas minimum wage in 2026?

Eleven dollars an hour. That figure came from Issue 5 on the November 2018 ballot, which amended Arkansas Code 11-4-210 in three annual steps ending on 1 January 2021, and the act set no further increases. Tipped employees must receive at least two dollars sixty three cents an hour in direct wages.

Does the Arkansas minimum wage apply to a very small employer?

It applies once an employer has four or more employees, which is a lower bar than the federal act sets. A business grossing under five hundred thousand dollars a year and not engaged in interstate commerce escapes federal coverage entirely but still owes the state minimum wage if it has four staff on the books.

How quickly must my final paycheck arrive in Arkansas?

By the next regular payday after a company or corporation terminates you. The department states that an employer which fails to pay within seven days of that payday owes double the wages due, so the penalty for missing the deadline is the wages themselves twice over rather than a fixed fine.

Can I file an Arkansas wage claim if I worked as a contractor?

Yes. The Labor Standards Division takes claims from anyone who physically performed the work, employee or independent contractor alike, provided the amount owed is two thousand dollars or less. Above that ceiling the division cannot help and the dispute has to go to court instead.

How is Arkansas state tax worked out on my pay?

The Department of Finance and Administration publishes both bracket tables and a formula method effective 1 January 2026. The formula annualises the gross pay for your pay period, subtracts the standard deduction, runs the annual figure through the rate schedule and divides the result back down to the period, then applies the credits claimed on your AR4EC.

Pay stub requirements in Arkansas

Arkansas regulates what has to be paid rather than what has to be printed. The Department of Labor and Licensing publishes rules on the minimum wage, on overtime, on which deductions may cut into it, on when a final cheque falls due and on how a wage claim is investigated, and none of that material sets out a wage statement requirement. What the state does insist on is money: the minimum wage moved to eleven dollars an hour in January 2021 under an act passed by the voters, the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act reaches employers with four or more employees, and an employer that is more than a week late with a final cheque owes double the wages due.

Pay stub required: Not set out in the state wage and hour rules
Electronic delivery: No state rule either way
Minimum wage (2026): $11.00/hour, employers with four or more staff
Pay frequency: Semimonthly

What Arkansas law requires

Eleven dollars an hour, written into the code by the voters
Issue 5 on the November 2018 ballot amended Arkansas Code 11-4-210(a) to raise the state minimum wage in three steps: nine dollars twenty five cents from 1 January 2019, ten dollars from 1 January 2020 and eleven dollars from 1 January 2021. No later step was written into the act, so eleven dollars is still the figure.
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The state act reaches employers with four or more employees
The Arkansas Minimum Wage Act covers employers with four or more employees, and employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act are also covered by the state law if they have four or more employees. An employer caught by both must pay whichever minimum wage is higher.
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Tipped staff get $2.63 in cash, and deductions have limits
Tipped employees must be paid at least two dollars sixty three cents an hour, with tips making up the difference to the applicable minimum and the employer carrying the burden of keeping accurate tip records. Deductions for spoilage, breakage, cash or inventory shortages and fines for lateness or misconduct may not take an employee below the minimum wage for the workweek.
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Which law applies turns on turnover and headcount
An employer grossing more than five hundred thousand dollars a year or engaged in interstate commerce is subject to both federal and state wage and hour law. An employer below that turnover that is not engaged in interstate commerce falls under the state law alone once it has four or more employees, which is why small Arkansas businesses are still covered when the federal act would miss them.
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A late final cheque costs the employer double
Where a company or corporation terminates an employee, the wages are due by the next regular payday. If the employer fails to make payment within seven days of that payday, the department states that the employer shall owe the employee double the wages due, which makes the deadline expensive rather than merely mandatory.
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Wage claims stop at two thousand dollars, but reach contractors
The Labor Standards Division investigates wage claims filed by workers who are owed two thousand dollars or less, and it does not matter whether the worker was an employee or an independent contractor who physically performed the work. Typical claims involve last paycheque disputes, commissions, vacation pay, bonuses or unauthorised deductions.
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Paydays fall at least twice a month
The federal Wage and Hour Division places Arkansas in the semimonthly column of its table of state payday requirements, with no narrower rule and no industry footnote attached to the entry. Employers are free to pay more often than that; they are not free to stretch the interval.
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State withholding runs off the AR4EC and the 2026 formula
The Department of Finance and Administration publishes the withholding formula effective 1 January 2026 that employers with electronic payroll systems use instead of the printed tables. It annualises the gross pay for the period, applies the standard deduction and the bracket table, and then divides back down, which is the arithmetic behind the state tax line on an Arkansas stub.
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What this generator calculates for Arkansas

State withholding for Arkansas is calculated from the 2026 figures the state publishes, and our test suite holds those figures against the state's own published calculation rather than against arithmetic of ours.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Wage and hour law changes. Check the linked source before relying on any figure here, and treat this page as a starting point rather than legal advice.

Pay stub requirements in Arkansas

What Arkansas law requires

Eleven dollars an hour, written into the code by the voters

The state act reaches employers with four or more employees

Tipped staff get $2.63 in cash, and deductions have limits

Which law applies turns on turnover and headcount

A late final cheque costs the employer double

Wage claims stop at two thousand dollars, but reach contractors

Paydays fall at least twice a month

State withholding runs off the AR4EC and the 2026 formula