Arkansas minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Arkansas is $11.00 an hour.

Minimum wage

$11.00

For a 40-hour week

$440.00

Source: Ark. Code 11-4-210 (Initiated Act 5 of 2018); $11.00 effective January 1, 2021 Read the rule

Employers in Arkansas can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.63 an hour and count up to $8.37 an hour of tips toward the $11.00 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $11.00 for every hour in each workweek. If they do not, your employer has to make up the difference.

Tips can count toward the wage

Yes

Tipped cash wage

$2.63

Maximum tip credit

$8.37

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: Ark. Code 11-4-212 (tipped cash wage $2.63; tips must bring the employee to the state minimum wage or the employer makes up the difference) Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$16.50

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$8.13

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $11.00, that is $16.50 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $8.13.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1); 29 CFR 778.107; Fact Sheet #15 (overtime for tipped employees is computed on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage) Read the rule

Arkansas does not require meal or rest breaks for adult workers, and neither does federal law. If your employer does give short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, federal law says those minutes are paid.

Source: 29 CFR 785.18 and 785.19 (federal law does not require breaks; short breaks that are given must be paid) Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what Arkansas allows:

Required uniforms

Only if pay stays above minimum

Register or cash shortages

Only if pay stays above minimum

Broken dishes or equipment

Only if pay stays above minimum

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Only if pay stays above minimum

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: Arkansas Minimum Wage Act, Ark. Code 11-4-201 et seq.; Arkansas Minimum Wage Rules (11 CAR Pt. 11): deductions for spoilage, breakage, cash or inventory shortages, and fines may not reduce pay below the state minimum wage for the workweek Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

No

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

Yes

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in Arkansas.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(B); 29 CFR 531.54 Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: 29 CFR 531.55 (a compulsory service charge is not a tip) Read the rule

Arkansas does not require paid sick leave statewide. Some employers offer it anyway, and in a few places a city or county law requires it.

Source: No federal paid sick leave requirement for private employers.

Some parts of Arkansas law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for Arkansas can be off if any of these apply to you:

• If your employer has fewer than 4 employees, the Arkansas minimum wage does not apply and the federal $7.25 may be your floor. This check used the $11.00 state rate, so a shortfall it found may not be owed.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Division

Phone

501-682-4599

The Labor Standards Division takes wage claims of $2,000 or less from workers earning $50,000 a year or less, through its online citizen portal. The claimant must supply the employer's address and contact information. Larger claims go to small claims court, a private attorney, or the federal Wage and Hour Division (1-866-487-9243; Little Rock office 501-223-9114).

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.