Title 11 — Labor and Industrial Relations

(a) (1) (A) Any person or entity who willfully and knowingly makes any material false statement or representation, who willfully and knowingly omits or conceals any material information, or who willfully and knowingly employs any device, scheme, or artifice for the purpose of obt…

(a) (1) Any employer who willfully discriminates in regard to the hiring or tenure of work or any term or condition of work of any individual on account of the individual's claim for benefits under this chapter, or who in any manner obstructs or impedes the filing of claims for b…

(a) No agreement by an employee to waive his or her right to compensation shall be valid, and no contract, regulation, or device whatsoever shall operate to relieve the employer or carrier, in whole or in part, from any liability created by this chapter, except as specifically pr…

(a) No agreement by an employee to pay any portion of the premium paid by his or her employer to a carrier or to contribute to a safety program as provided under § 11-9-409 or a benefit fund or department maintained by the employer for the purpose of providing compensation or med…

(a) The right to compensation shall not be assignable and shall not be subject to garnishment, attachment, levy, execution, or any other legal process, except for child support obligations and moneys retained by the Division of Correction under § 12-30-406(a)(1). (b) Money compen…

(a) Compensation to alien nonresidents of the United States or Canada shall be the same in amount as provided for residents, except that alien nonresident dependents in any foreign country shall be limited to the surviving wife or children or, if there is no surviving wife or chi…

Compensation due an injured employee or his or her dependents shall have the same preference as is allowed by law to an employee for unpaid wages.

(a) (1) A mental injury or illness is not a compensable injury unless it is caused by physical injury to the employee's body, and shall not be considered an injury arising out of and in the course of employment or compensable unless it is demonstrated by a preponderance of the ev…

(a) A cardiovascular, coronary, pulmonary, respiratory, or cerebrovascular accident or myocardial infarction causing injury, illness, or death is a compensable injury only if, in relation to other factors contributing to the physical harm, an accident is the major cause of the ph…

(a) (1) At any time an application is made for workers' compensation, an employer shall require the applicant for compensation to state whether or not the applicant has child support obligations, if the obligations are current or past due, and to whom the obligations are payable.…

(a) (1) One (1) month before the beginning of any fiscal quarter, the Insurance Commissioner shall provide to the Workers' Compensation Commission the estimated funding need of the Workers' Compensation Fraud Investigation Unit of the State Insurance Department for the ensuing qu…

Pursuant to its rulemaking authority, the Workers' Compensation Commission shall be empowered to enact medical diagnostic and treatment guidelines regarding occupational carpal tunnel syndrome upon the joint recommendation of the Arkansas chapter of the American Federation of Lab…

(a) No hospital, physician, or other healthcare provider shall bill or attempt to collect any fee or any portion of a fee for services rendered to an employee due to a work-related injury or report to any credit reporting agency any failure of the employee to make the payment, wh…

(a) (1) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall consist of three (3) members appointed by the Governor for terms of six (6) years who shall devote their entire time to the duties of the commission and shall administer the provisions of this chapter.(2) One (1) member shall be …

(a) The members shall give bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) executed by a surety company authorized to do business in the state for the faithful performance of their duties. (b) The bond shall be approved by the Governor and kept on file in the office of the Secr…

(a) The Governor may, at any time, remove any member of the Workers' Compensation Commission for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office, giving him or her in advance a copy of the charges preferred and an opportunity of being publicly heard, in person or by counse…

(a) Members of the Workers' Compensation Commission shall be considered as officers and shall take the oath prescribed by the Arkansas Constitution and the laws of Arkansas. (b) (1) A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and vacanc…

(a) (1) For the purpose of administering the provisions of this chapter, the Workers' Compensation Commission is authorized:(A) To make such rules as may be found necessary;(B) To appoint and fix the compensation of temporary technical assistants and medical and legal advisers an…

Any member or employee of the Workers' Compensation Commission shall be entitled to receive his or her necessary traveling expenses actually incurred and for subsistence while traveling on official business and away from his or her designated station. The expenses shall be certif…

(a) In addition to its other duties and powers, the Workers' Compensation Commission is given and granted full power and authority:(1) To hear and determine all claims for compensation, including claims based upon injuries which occurred outside the State of Arkansas for which co…

On or before the first day of the regular session of the General Assembly, the Workers' Compensation Commission under the authority of at least two (2) of its members shall make to the Governor and to the General Assembly a report of the administration of this chapter for the pre…

(a) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall publish annually, on an aggregate basis, information pertaining to the distribution of workers' compensation insurance premiums, losses, expenses, and net income to be compiled from reports required to be filed with the Secretary of …

(a) (1) The Workers' Compensation Commission is hereby authorized to fund financial obligations of the Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund through the purchase of structured annuity contracts. Provided, the commission shall purchase such annuity contracts only when th…

(a) All funds held at any time in the Death and Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund, the Second Injury Trust Fund, and the Workers' Compensation Fund shall be invested and reinvested to the extent feasible. (b) All investments authorized for use by the Treasurer of State shall …

After receiving approval from the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, the Chief Executive Officer of the Workers' Compensation Commission, after receiving approval of the Workers' Compensation Commission, may transfer funds from the Second Injury Trust Fund to the Death and Perman…

(a) There are established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, three (3) separate funds:(1) The “Workers' Compensation Fund”;(2) The “Second Injury Trust Fund”; and(3) The “Death and Permanent Total Disability Tr…

(a) Each carrier writing compensation insurance in this state shall pay to the Insurance Commissioner, in addition to the premium taxes and fees now required under existing laws, at the time of securing the first license to transact business in the state the sum of five hundred d…

(a) (1) In addition to the premium taxes collected from carriers, the carriers shall pay annually to the Workers' Compensation Commission a tax, at the rate to be determined as provided in § 11-9-306 but not to exceed three percent (3%), on all written manual premiums resulting f…

(a) (1) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall collect a tax from every self-insured employer at a rate to be determined as provided by § 11-9-306 but not to exceed three percent (3%) of the written manual premium which would have to be paid under § 11-9-303 by a carrier if t…

(a) (1) (A) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall collect a tax from every public employer providing workers' compensation coverage to its employees at a rate to be determined as provided by § 11-9-306 but not to exceed three percent (3%) of the written manual premium which …

(a) (1) The Workers' Compensation Commission, on or before December 31 of each year, shall determine the surplus, if any, in the Workers' Compensation Fund, together with the additional amounts necessary to properly administer this chapter for the ensuing year.(2) The commission …

(a) During the biennial period beginning July 1, 1989, and thereafter, the State Insurance Department shall certify to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State the cost of administering the Public Employee Claims Division. (b) The certification shall be made the month following each…

(a) (1) Every employer should secure compensation to its employees and pay or provide compensation for their disability or death from compensable injury arising out of and in the course of employment without regard to fault as a cause of the injury.(2) There shall be no liability…

(a) Where a subcontractor fails to secure compensation required by this chapter, the prime contractor shall be liable for compensation to the employees of the subcontractor unless there is an intermediate subcontractor who has workers' compensation coverage. (b) (1) Any contracto…

(a) Any employer carrying on any exempted or excepted employment may at any time waive the exemptions or exceptions as to any employee or all employees engaged in the employment as the employer may elect by giving notice of waiver of the exemptions or exceptions as provided in su…

(a) Every employer shall secure the payment of compensation under this chapter:(1) By insuring and keeping insured the payment of the compensation with any carrier authorized to write workers' compensation insurance;(2) (A) By furnishing satisfactory proof to the Workers' Compens…

(a) In any case where the employer is not a self-insurer, in order that the liability for compensation imposed by this chapter may be most effectively discharged by the employer and in order that the administration of this chapter with respect to that liability may be facilitated…

(a) (1) Any employer required to secure the payment of compensation under this chapter who fails to secure compensation shall be subject to a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) as determined by the Workers' Compensation Commission payable to the Death and Permanent Tota…

(a) Every employer who has secured compensation under the provisions of this chapter shall keep posted in a conspicuous place in and about the employer's place of business typewritten or printed notices in accordance with a form prescribed by the Workers' Compensation Commission.…

(a) Contents. Every policy or contract of insurance issued by a carrier to an employer to secure the payment of compensation under this chapter shall contain:(1) (A) Provisions that identify the insured employer and either identify each covered employee or describe covered employ…

(a) Workers' Health and Safety Division. (1) The Workers' Compensation Commission shall establish a Workers' Health and Safety Division, hereinafter referred to as the “division”.(2) The division shall collect and serve as a repository for statistical information on workers' heal…

(a) Liability Unaffected. (1) (A) The making of a claim for compensation against any employer or carrier for the injury or death of an employee shall not affect the right of the employee, or his or her dependents, to make a claim or maintain an action in court against any third p…

(a) (1) Any benefits payable to an injured worker under this chapter shall be reduced in an amount equal to, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of benefits the injured worker has previously received for the same medical services or period of disability, whether those benefits were pai…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Commercial motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property;(2) “Driver” means a person, including but not limited to a member of a team, who operates a commercial motor veh…

(a) (1) Compensation to the injured employee shall not be allowed for the first seven (7) days' disability resulting from injury, excluding the day of injury.(2) If a disability extends beyond that period, compensation shall commence with the ninth day of disability.(3) If a disa…

(a) The benefits shall be paid for a period not to exceed four hundred fifty (450) weeks of disability, except that this limitation shall not apply in cases of permanent total disability or death. (b) (1) (A) For injuries occurring on or after March 1, 1981, but on or before Dece…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other definition of extra-hazardous employer as provided by § 11-9-409(c), any employer who fails to utilize the consultative safety services available through the Division of Labor, its own insurance carrier, or a private safety consultant shall be id…

(a) Where an injury or death is sustained by a minor employed in violation of federal or state statutes pertaining to minimum ages for employment of minors, including without limitation § 11-6-101 et seq., compensation or death benefits provided for by this chapter shall be doubl…

(a) (1) Any employer who without reasonable cause refuses to return an employee who is injured in the course of employment to work, where suitable employment is available within the employee's physical and mental limitations, upon order of the Workers' Compensation Commission, an…

(a) Any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, no compensation in any amount for temporary total, temporary partial, or permanent total disability shall be payable to an injured employee with respect to any week for which the injured employee receives u…