Arkansas — Leave Laws

Arkansas does not require private employers to provide employees with paid or unpaid sick leave, vacation leave, or family and medical leave beyond federal requirements. Employees rely on the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which requires certain employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons. Any leave benefits offered by private employers are governed by the employer's policy or employment contract.

Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing FAQs

Arkansas law prohibits employers from subjecting an employee to discharge, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty on account of absence from employment by reason of jury duty. Employers who violate this protection are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. The statute does not require employers to provide paid leave for jury service, only that employees be permitted time off without retaliation or penalty.

Source: Ark. Code § 16-31-106

Arkansas requires private employers to provide unpaid leave to employees who serve as organ donors or bone marrow donors under Ark. Code § 11-3-205. This is one of the few state-mandated leave protections Arkansas imposes on private employers beyond federal requirements.

Covered employers. The statute applies to any "private employer" — defined as a sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other entity with one or more employees. Unlike many employment laws that exempt small employers, Arkansas's organ-donation leave mandate applies even to single-employee businesses. The statute expressly excludes public employers: municipalities, counties, state agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public-sector entities are not covered by § 11-3-205 (they have a separate paid-leave provision under Ark. Code § 21-4-215).

Leave entitlement. An employee is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence for up to 90 days, or the length of time requested by the employee, whichever is less, to serve as an organ donor or bone marrow donor. The leave is "in addition to any medical, personal, or other paid leave provided by the employer" — it does not run concurrently with employer-provided PTO or paid sick leave unless the employer chooses to offer paid leave for organ donation. The statute permits (but does not require) a private employer to grant a paid or unpaid leave of absence for a period longer than 90 days.

Employee eligibility restriction. The leave is available only to employees who are not eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). In practice, this means the Arkansas organ-donation leave acts as a gap-filler: employees at small employers (fewer than 50 employees) or employees who do not meet FMLA's tenure and hours-worked requirements can invoke the state mandate, while FMLA-eligible employees at covered employers would use their federal entitlement instead. (Organ donation qualifies as a "serious health condition" under FMLA, entitling eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.)

Notice requirement. The employee must request the leave in writing. The statute does not prescribe a minimum advance-notice period, but the written-request requirement gives the employer documentary evidence of the leave request and allows the employer to plan for the absence.

Definitions. "Bone marrow donor" means a person from whose body bone marrow is taken to be transferred to the body of another person. "Organ" means a human organ that is capable of being transferred from one person's body to another's, including eyes. "Organ donor" means a person from whose body an organ is taken to be transferred to another person. These definitions are broad: eye donation, kidney donation, liver-lobe donation, and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation for marrow transplant all fall within the statute's protection.

Tax credit for paid leave. Although the statute requires only unpaid leave, § 11-3-205 also establishes a withholding tax credit for private employers who choose to provide paid leave for organ or bone marrow donation. Employers who voluntarily pay an employee's regular salary during organ-donation leave may claim a credit against Arkansas income tax withholding liability. Under subsection (c)(2)(A), the credit is equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the regular salary or wages paid to the employee during the leave. The credit must be taken within one year of the date upon which the leave begins. This incentive encourages private employers to go beyond the statutory floor, though the credit reimburses only a quarter of the wages paid.

Arkansas's organ-donation leave law is narrower in scope than some states' broad family-and-medical-leave mandates but represents a deliberate policy choice: the General Assembly imposed a leave obligation on even the smallest private employers (one employee) for this specific, life-saving activity, while leaving general sick leave, parental leave, and family-care leave to federal law (FMLA) or employer discretion.

Source: Ark. Code § 11-3-205

Arkansas law provides limited job protection for crime victims who participate in criminal justice proceedings, but does not mandate paid or unpaid leave for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or other crimes beyond the specific protections for court participation under Ark. Code § 16-90-1105.

Statutory protection. Under § 16-90-1105, an employer may not discharge or discipline a victim or a representative of the victim for two narrowly defined activities:

1. Participation at the prosecuting attorney's request in preparation for a criminal justice proceeding; or
2. Attendance at a criminal justice proceeding if the attendance is reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the victim.

The statute appears in Subchapter 11 of Chapter 90, Title 16 — the "Rights of Victims of Crime" subchapter, enacted by Acts 1997, No. 1262, § 6. It applies to victims as defined in Ark. Code § 16-90-1101(8): a victim of a sex offense, an offense against a victim who is a minor, or any violent crime. "Violent crime" is defined broadly to include any felony that resulted in physical injury to the victim, any felony involving use of a deadly weapon, first-degree terroristic threatening, and stalking. The statute also extends protection to a "representative of the victim," which under § 16-90-1101(2) can include a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, sibling, or an individual designated by the victim or by the court.

What the statute does not require. Section 16-90-1105 is an anti-retaliation provision, not an affirmative leave entitlement. It prohibits discharge or discipline for the two enumerated activities, but does not:

• Require employers to provide paid or unpaid leave for crime victims to attend medical appointments, seek counseling, obtain protective orders, relocate, or address other consequences of victimization (beyond court attendance that is "reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the victim");
• Mandate time off for victims to participate in victim-assistance programs or victim-impact statements (unless at the prosecuting attorney's request or as part of a proceeding the victim must attend to protect their interests);
• Create a private right of action or specify remedies for violation — the statute states only that the employer "may not" discharge or discipline, without enumerating penalties or enforcement mechanisms (though the general criminal-law remedies and any applicable Arkansas civil-rights or wrongful-discharge doctrines may apply);
• Define "reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the victim," leaving that determination to factual inquiry in each case.

Scope comparison to other states. Many states have enacted broader crime-victim leave laws that require unpaid time off for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking to attend court, obtain protective orders, receive medical treatment, participate in safety planning, or relocate. Arkansas's § 16-90-1105 is narrower: it protects only participation at the prosecutor's request and attendance at proceedings to protect the victim's interests. Employers have no statutory obligation to provide leave for a domestic-violence victim to move to a shelter, obtain a protective order outside the context of a criminal prosecution, or attend counseling, unless those activities fall within the two statutory categories (which is unlikely).

Related federal and state protections. Victims who are employees may have recourse under other laws. An employer's adverse action against a crime victim might constitute disability discrimination under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act (if the victim has a qualifying disability), unlawful retaliation under Title VII or state anti-discrimination law (if the crime was workplace harassment and the victim reported it), or interference with FMLA leave (if the victim qualifies for FMLA for a serious health condition resulting from the crime). Arkansas also criminalizes certain retaliatory employer conduct under separate statutes (e.g., discharge for filing a workers' compensation claim, Ark. Code § 11-9-107). But none of those laws create a general crime-victim leave entitlement; § 16-90-1105 remains the only Arkansas statute specifically addressing employer obligations toward crime victims as such.

Source: Ark. Code § 16-90-1105 Source: Ark. Code § 16-90-1101 (definitions)