When is the final paycheck due in Arkansas?

For a fired employee: by the next regular payday — and if it stays unpaid more than 7 days past that payday, the wages owed double under Ark. Code 11-4-405. For an employee who quits, there's no statutory deadline; the next payday is standard.

What does Arkansas require on election day?

Employers must schedule employees' work hours on election day so each has the opportunity to vote. There's no fixed number of hours and no pay requirement — but a schedule that leaves no voting window is itself a violation, with fines.

Does an Arkansas employer have to pay out unused PTO at termination?

Only if a policy or contract promises it. No Arkansas statute addresses payout, and forfeiture clauses are enforceable as written.

Can you fire someone for calling in sick in Arkansas?

Generally yes — Arkansas is at-will. The caveats: FMLA and ADA absences, workers' comp retaliation, and the Sterling Drug public-policy exception, which makes terminations tied to legally protected conduct actionable in tort.

What counts as a no-call no-show in Arkansas?

Your written policy defines it. The standard structure — a notice window, then a set number of consecutive silent absences as job abandonment — is fully enforceable in Arkansas when applied consistently.

Arkansas sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Is paid sick leave required in Arkansas?

No. Arkansas has no sick leave requirement for private employers, and Act 1116 of 2017 preempts local governments from creating one. Sick leave is whatever your written policy provides, plus federal FMLA and ADA obligations.

Arkansas requires no sick leave and no breaks — but it hides two rules with real teeth: a fired employee's wages left unpaid more than 7 days past the next payday double automatically, and election day carries an affirmative duty to schedule every employee a window to vote. Here is what applies in 2026.

Arkansas at a glance

Paid sick leave mandate	None — local mandates preempted (Act 1116 of 2017)
Employment relationship	At-will with a public-policy exception (Sterling Drug v. Oxford)
Final paycheck (fired)	Next regular payday — unpaid 7+ days past it, wages DOUBLE
Election day	Affirmative duty to schedule work so every employee can vote
PTO payout at termination	Policy controls
Jury duty	Unpaid, protected — no forced PTO use
Meal & rest breaks	None for adults

Is paid sick leave required in Arkansas?

No. Arkansas has no sick leave requirement, and Act 1116 of 2017 preempts local governments from imposing employment-benefit standards above state or federal law. Your written policy and the federal floor are the framework.

The federal floor that still applies

FMLA

Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."

ADA

For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.

Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Arkansas

Arkansas is at-will with a genuine public-policy exception (Sterling Drug v. Oxford), so attendance terminations that brush against protected activity — a workers' comp claim, a refusal to break the law — carry tort risk that pure at-will states don't. Otherwise the policy-is-the-law pattern applies, with one scheduling wrinkle: on election day, a rigid crew schedule that leaves someone no window to vote violates Ark. Code 7-1-102 on its own. Wage claims under $2,000 go to the state Labor Standards Division; everything else goes to court on the strength of your records. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system keeps the absence history that both venues will ask for.

PTO payout and final paychecks

Scenario	Rule	Source
Employee is fired or laid off	Wages due by the next regular payday; unpaid more than 7 days past that payday, the amount doubles	Ark. Code 11-4-405
Employee quits	No statutory deadline — next regular payday by practice	—
Unused vacation / PTO	Owed only if promised by policy or contract	Policy/contract law
Small wage claims	The state Labor Standards Division investigates claims of $2,000 or less; larger claims go to court	—

The doubling provision turns a missed final check into the most expensive payroll error in the region — treat discharge pay as a deadline, not a cycle. See how PTO accrual works.

Leave Arkansas employers must (and must not) provide

Leave type	Required?	Notes
Voting	Yes — scheduling duty	Work hours on election day must be scheduled so each employee has the opportunity to vote (Ark. Code 7-1-102); unpaid; fines for noncompliance
Jury duty	Yes — unpaid	No discipline, discharge, or forced leave use (Ark. Code 16-31-106)
Military	Yes	USERRA (federal) plus Arkansas National Guard protections
Sick leave	No	Whatever your written policy provides
Meal & rest breaks	No	None for adults

The Arkansas employer's attendance playbook

Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.

Note: This is general information for Arkansas private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

Menu