Arkansas Labor Laws: Maximum Hours, Overtime, and Breaks

Arkansas sets no maximum on how many hours an adult can be scheduled to work, but the state’s maximum hours and overtime laws require employers to pay non-exempt workers one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a single workweek.¹ There is no daily overtime threshold, no cap on weekly hours, and no legal ceiling on mandatory schedules. The rules that matter are about pay, not hours.

No Cap on Adult Work Hours

If your employer wants you working 50 or 60 hours a week, that’s legal, as long as you’re paid correctly for every hour. Neither Arkansas law nor federal law limits how many hours an adult can be scheduled. The Arkansas Minimum Wage Act requires employers with four or more employees to pay at least $11.00 per hour for all time worked, with tipped employees receiving at least $2.63 in direct wages and the employer making up any shortfall to reach $11.00.¹

The practical limit is cost. Once employers have to pay time and a half, most of them think twice about excessive schedules, which is what the law is designed to do.

When Overtime Is Owed

Arkansas follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. A non-exempt employee who works more than 40 hours of actual work in a workweek earns overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate.² There is no daily overtime in Arkansas, so a 12-hour shift on its own does not trigger overtime. The weekly total is what counts.

Only hours actually worked go toward the 40-hour threshold. Paid holidays, sick days, and vacation time do not count. If you work 36 hours and take an 8-hour paid holiday, your check may show 44 hours of pay, but no overtime is owed because you only worked 36.¹

How the Regular Rate Is Calculated

Your overtime rate is based on your regular rate of pay, which is not always the same as your base hourly wage. Under federal law, the regular rate includes base pay, non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions.³ A surprise holiday bonus from the boss is discretionary and stays out. A bonus promised in advance or tied to productivity gets folded into the regular rate before overtime is figured.

An employee earning $15 an hour who also received a $200 non-discretionary bonus during the workweek has a regular rate higher than $15, and the overtime premium must reflect the adjusted number.

Private-sector employers cannot offer comp time in place of overtime pay. That option exists only for state and local government employees.⁴

Which Hours Count as Work

Most overtime disputes come down to which hours qualify. A few categories cause repeated confusion.

Your commute from home to your regular workplace is not paid, even if the job site changes daily. Travel during the workday is different. Driving between job sites, going from a required meeting point to a work location, or being sent to a second job after your regular shift all count as hours worked.⁵ Anyone driving a truck, bus, or other vehicle as part of the job is working the entire time behind the wheel, except during legitimate meal breaks or employer-provided sleep periods.

Putting on and taking off required protective equipment or safety gear at the workplace also counts as work. The U.S. Supreme Court held in IBP v. Alvarez that donning and doffing required gear is a core work activity that starts the compensable workday, regardless of how brief.⁶ If you have the option to change at home, that time is not compensable. If the gear must stay on-site, it is.

Who Doesn’t Get Overtime

The FLSA exempts specific categories of workers. Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations, and being paid a salary does not by itself make you exempt. Both a salary test and a duties test have to be met.

Executive, administrative, and professional employees are exempt if they earn at least $684 per week on a salary basis and their actual duties fit the exemption.⁷ Executives must manage a department and direct at least two full-time workers. Administrative employees must exercise independent judgment on significant business matters. Professionals must do work requiring advanced knowledge in a specialized field. A separate “highly compensated employee” exemption applies at $107,432 per year for workers who regularly perform at least one of those exempt duties. The Department of Labor tried to raise both thresholds in 2024, but a federal court vacated the increases, so the 2019 figures still apply.

Several industries operate under their own rules. Farm workers at smaller operations are exempt from both minimum wage and overtime, and other agricultural workers are exempt from overtime alone.⁸ Drivers, mechanics, and loaders whose work affects the safe operation of commercial vehicles in interstate commerce fall under the Motor Carrier Act exemption and do not receive FLSA overtime.⁹ Rail and airline employees have their own overtime frameworks.¹⁰

Healthcare and Public Safety Schedules

Two groups follow alternative overtime schedules that don’t use the standard 40-hour workweek. Hospitals and residential care facilities can adopt a 14-day work period, known as the 8/80 system, where overtime kicks in after 8 hours in a workday or 80 hours in 14 days, whichever comes first. The arrangement must be agreed to before the work is performed, and it cannot be applied retroactively to avoid overtime already earned.³

Public-sector firefighters and law enforcement officers can be placed on work periods ranging from 7 to 28 days. Fire personnel on a 28-day cycle don’t earn overtime until they exceed 212 hours; law enforcement officers hit their threshold at 171 hours over the same 28 days.¹¹

Hour Limits for Minors

Adults face no hour caps in Arkansas, but minors do. Children aged 14 and 15 can work no more than 8 hours per day, 48 hours per week, or 6 days per week, and they cannot work before 6 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on nights before a school day. On non-school nights, the evening limit extends to 9 p.m. Sixteen-year-olds cannot work more than 10 consecutive hours or more than 10 hours in a 24-hour period.¹² Federal child labor rules add restrictions on hazardous work.

Breaks Are Not Required

Arkansas does not require employers to provide meal or rest breaks to adult employees. The state Department of Labor and Licensing states directly that “neither state nor federal wage and hour laws require an employer to provide a break or a meal period.”¹³ If your employer offers breaks anyway, short rest periods under 20 minutes must be paid. A meal period of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid, but only if you’re fully relieved of duties.

Nursing employees are the exception. They have the right to reasonable break time to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth, and the employer must provide a private space that is not a bathroom.¹⁴

If You’re Not Being Paid Correctly

If your employer isn’t paying overtime or minimum wage correctly, you can file a complaint with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing or the federal Wage and Hour Division. The federal complaint line is 1-866-487-9243.¹⁵ Complaints are confidential; the agency won’t disclose your name or confirm a complaint exists.

Before filing, gather your own records of hours worked, pay stubs, and any written scheduling communications. You can also request copies of your employer’s payroll records, which must be preserved for at least three years.¹⁶ Gaps in the employer’s documentation tend to work against the employer, not you.

Employers who violate overtime or minimum wage rules owe the full amount of unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling what’s owed, and a court must also award reasonable attorney’s fees.¹⁷

Deadlines matter. Under Arkansas law, you have two years from when the unpaid wages accrued to file a state claim.¹⁸ Federal FLSA claims also carry a two-year window, extended to three years if the violation was willful.¹⁷

An employer cannot fire, demote, cut hours, or otherwise punish you for filing a complaint, cooperating with an investigation, or testifying in a wage case.¹⁹ If retaliation happens, you’re entitled to reinstatement, lost wages, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees.¹⁷

1
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Minimum Wage and Overtime
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 207 – Maximum Hours
4
eCFR. Section 7(o) – Compensatory Time and Compensatory Time Off
5
Code of Arkansas Rules. 11 CAR 11-806 Travel Time
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Wage and Hour Advisory Memorandum No. 2006-2
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 213 – Exemptions
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 19 – The Motor Carrier Exemption Under the FLSA
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Field Operations Handbook – Chapter 24
11
U.S. Department of Commerce. Annual Premium Pay Under Section 7(k) of FLSA
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18
13
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. FAQs
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 73 – FLSA Protections for Employees to Pump Breast Milk at Work
15
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
16
eCFR. Part 516 – Records to Be Kept by Employers
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties
18
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 11-4-611 – Action to Collect Unpaid Wages
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 215 – Prohibited Acts