Title 11 — Labor and Industrial Relations

(a) If the employer has made advance payments for compensation, the employer shall be entitled to be reimbursed out of any unpaid installment or installments of compensation due. (b) If the injured employee receives full wages during disability, he or she shall not be entitled to…

The Workers' Compensation Commission may require any employer to make a deposit or bond with the commission to secure the prompt and convenient payment of compensation, and payments shall be made upon order of the commission.

Compensation shall bear interest at the legal rate from the day an award is made by either an administrative law judge or the full Workers' Compensation Commission on all accrued and unpaid compensation.

(a) Upon making the first payment and upon suspension of payment of compensation, the employer shall notify the Workers' Compensation Commission of that fact on a form prescribed by the commission. (b) (1) Within thirty (30) days after the final payment of compensation has been m…

Upon its own initiative at any time where compensation payments are being made without an award, the Workers' Compensation Commission may and in any case where the right to compensation has been controverted or where payments of compensation have been suspended, or where an emplo…

(a) (1) When any person who receives workers' compensation benefits is incarcerated in an institution under the control of the Division of Correction, the inmate's spouse or, if no spouse, the inmate's minor dependent children, may petition the Workers' Compensation Commission to…

(a) (1) Upon approval by the commissioner, and following the adoption of such rules as the commissioner deems necessary and advisable, each insurer issuing a policy under this chapter shall offer, as a part of the policy or as an optional endorsement to the policy, deductibles op…

(a) (1) (A) The Workers' Compensation Commission is hereby authorized to recognize two separate entities formed under the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act, §§ 4-28-201 — 4-28-206 and §§ 4-28-209 — 4-28-223, to function as guaranty funds for Arkansas workers' compensation self-i…

The Workers' Compensation Commission shall promulgate rules to implement this subchapter.

There shall be no liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature shall lie, whether at law or in equity, against any agent or employee of the two (2) corporations, their boards of directors, any Arkansas workers' compensation self-insurer, or the Workers' Compensa…

(a) Each corporation acting as the guaranty fund shall independently determine periodically the amount of money each Arkansas workers' compensation self-insurer should contribute to each fund in order to provide an adequate pool of money to pay workers' compensation benefits owed…

The Workers' Compensation Commission shall report to the board of directors of each corporation when the commission has reasonable cause to believe that the payment of potential claims by an Arkansas workers' compensation self-insurer is or may be jeopardized by the existing or p…

(a) Moneys collected by the Workers' Compensation Commission and disbursed to each corporation shall be vested in the corporation and shall not be deemed state property and shall not be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. (b) Each corporation shall annually submit t…

The board of directors of each corporation shall direct the investment of moneys in each workers' compensation self-insurers guaranty fund, and all returns on the investments shall be retained in each fund. The moneys in each fund shall be used solely to compensate persons entitl…

(a) Each corporation shall have full rights of subrogation against any source of payment or reimbursement for payments made by the corporation on behalf of an Arkansas workers' compensation self-insurer. (b) Each corporation shall have a right of recovery through the maintenance …

(a) Each corporation is also authorized to take all necessary action, including bringing an action at law or in equity, to seek any available relief as against any workers' compensation self-insurer, whether the self-insurer has paid all assessments levied by the Workers' Compens…

All private sector participants in the Arkansas workers' compensation self-insurers' program may be members of one (1) of the corporations acting as guaranty funds, and the Workers' Compensation Commission may revoke any such self-insurer's authority to act as a workers' compensa…

Any person or entity whose workers' compensation self-insurer status is terminated shall thereafter be subject to no further assessments by the Workers' Compensation Commission, but shall remain liable for all assessments due prior to the date of termination.

This subchapter shall be known and cited as the “Unemployment Trust Fund Financing Act of 2011”.

(1) The General Assembly finds that:(1) With a recession or economic slowdown now underway, the state's unemployment trust fund faces higher claims levels and longer benefit durations that accompany any economic downturn;(2) The Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund:(A) Provides parti…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Authority” means the Arkansas Development Finance Authority;(2) “Bonds” means the “Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds”, as authorized in this subchapter;(3) “Debt service” means all amounts required for the payment of principal, interest, a…

(a) The Arkansas Development Finance Authority is authorized, subject to the approval of the voters in a statewide election, to issue bonds to be known as the Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed five hundred million dollars ($500,…

(a) The Arkansas Development Finance Authority shall prepare and distribute to the Governor a report that shall contain a plan for repaying the federal Unemployment Trust Fund debt and the estimated time and cost to repay the debt. (b) Upon receipt of the report described in subs…

(a) (1) Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds shall not be issued under this subchapter unless the issuance of bonds has been approved by a majority of the qualified electors of the state voting on the question at a statewide election called by proclamation of the Governor as pr…

(a) Prior to the issuance of Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority shall adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. (b) Each resolution adopted under this section shall contain the terms, covenants, and conditions as are…

(1) The Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds are subject to the following terms and conditions:(1) (A) The bonds may be issued in more than one (1) series in an amount sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this subchapter.(B) The respective series of bonds shall be designate…

(a) The Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds may be sold in any manner, either at private or public sale, and upon terms as the Arkansas Development Finance Authority shall determine to be reasonable and expedient for effecting the purposes of this subchapter. (b) (1) If the bo…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Division of Workforce Services Law”.

Under § 15-5-212, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority may employ and retain any professionals that the Arkansas Development Finance Authority deems necessary to accomplish the issuance and sale of the Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds, including without limitation leg…

(a) The Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds shall be payable from the designated revenues. (b) (1) The unemployment obligation assessment shall be collected until the end of the quarter immediately following the repayment of all bonds authorized under this subchapter.(2) The u…

(a) Proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be deposited into trust funds or accounts established under the resolution or trust indenture authorizing or securing the bonds to accomplish the purposes of this subchapter in amounts or portions as set forth in the resolution or tru…

(a) The Arkansas Development Finance Authority may issue the Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds for the purpose of refunding bonds previously issued under this subchapter if the total amount of bonds outstanding after the refunding is completed does not exceed the total amoun…

Officers, officials, employees, and members of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority are not liable personally for any reason arising from the issuance of bonds under this subchapter unless he or she acts with corrupt intent.

(a) All Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds issued under this subchapter and interest on the bonds shall be exempt from all taxes of the State of Arkansas, including income, inheritance, and property taxes. (b) The bonds shall be eligible to secure deposits of all public funds…

(a) (1) This subchapter shall constitute a contract between the State of Arkansas and the registered owners of all State of Arkansas Unemployment Trust Fund Bonds issued under this subchapter that shall never be impaired.(2) A violation of terms of this subchapter, whether under …

(a) (1) (A) Except employers that have made an election to reimburse the Unemployment Compensation Fund under § 11-10-713(c), each employer shall pay a separate and additional assessment, to be known as the “unemployment obligation assessment”, on wages paid by that employer with…

(a) (1) There is established on the books of the Division of Workforce Services a special restricted fund to be known as the “Bond Financing Trust Fund”, to be maintained and administered by the division under this subchapter for the purposes stated in this subchapter.(2) The fol…

(1) As a guide to the interpretation and application of this chapter, the public policy of this state is declared to be as follows:(1) Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of this state. Involuntary unemploym…

The General Assembly declares its intention to provide for the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter in cooperation with the appropriate agencies of other states and of the United States Government as part of a nationwide employment security program to secure for this stat…

This chapter shall be construed to accomplish its purpose to promote employment security by increasing opportunities for placement through the maintenance of a system of public employment offices and by providing through accumulation of reserves for the payment of compensation to…

(a) (1) The General Assembly reserves the right to amend or repeal all or any part of this chapter or of any law heretofore enacted involving any employment security law.(2) There shall be no vested private right of any kind against such amendment or repeal nor shall there be ves…

(a) False Statement or Representation. (1) Whoever makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false or knowingly fails to disclose a material fact to obtain or increase any benefit or other payment under this chapter or under the unemployment compensation law of a…

(a) Any agreement by an individual to waive, release, or commute his or her rights to benefits or any other rights under this chapter shall be void. (b) Any agreements by an individual in the employ of any person or employing unit to pay all or any portion of an employer's contri…

(a) No individual claiming benefits shall be charged fees or costs of any kind in any proceeding under this chapter by the Board of Review, the Director of the Division of Workforce Services, or his or her or its representatives, or by any court or any officer thereof, except tha…

(a) Except as elsewhere provided in this section and § 11-10-110, any assignment, pledge, or encumbrance of any right to benefits which are or may become due or payable under this chapter shall be void. (b) Such rights to benefits shall be exempt from levy, execution, attachment,…

(a) At the time of filing the claim, an individual filing a new claim for unemployment compensation shall disclose whether or not the individual owes child support obligations as defined under subdivision (g)(1) of this section. If any individual discloses that he or she owes chi…

(a) (1) An individual filing a new claim for unemployment compensation shall at the time of filing the claim disclose whether or not he or she owes an uncollected overissuance, as defined in section 13(c)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, of food stamp coupons.(2) The Director of…

(a) Conditioned upon the availability of federal funding provided under Section 209 of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, Title II of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-147, Title IX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.…

(a) (1) As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, “base period” means the first four (4) of the last five (5) completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of the benefit year.(2) For claims involving wages of several states, the ba…

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, “regular benefits” means benefits payable to an individual under this chapter or under any other state law, including benefits payable to federal civilian employees and to ex-servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §…