Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Guide 2026
Understand coverage, immediate reporting, authorized medical care, disability checks, Form AR-C and filing periods.
Most employers with three or more workers need coverage
AWCC guidance says businesses with two or fewer employees may fall outside the law, while most employers with three or more employees must secure workers’ compensation. Agricultural farm labor, domestic help, certain nonprofit or religious work, and workers governed exclusively by federal systems are among the stated exceptions. Coverage begins with employment; there is no general minimum tenure or wage requirement.
If the workplace notice is missing or coverage is uncertain, ask the employer and verify with the Commission. When an employer that was required to insure did not do so, the worker may have a Commission claim or a civil-court option; that choice needs individual legal analysis.
Report the injury immediately and preserve proof
Tell a supervisor as soon as possible and give written details of the time, place, mechanism and every affected body part. Prompt notice enables the employer to arrange treatment and complete its reports. Keep a copy of the notice, photographs, witness names, work schedules, pay records, restrictions and communications from the carrier.
The employer’s report is not a substitute for the employee’s Form AR-C when a formal claim must be preserved. Do not assume that receiving initial treatment or a check eliminates every filing deadline.
The employer generally directs initial medical care
The employer or carrier ordinarily selects the authorized provider and must furnish reasonably necessary treatment for a compensable injury. Emergency treatment may be obtained immediately. For non-emergency care, using an unauthorized doctor without following the change-of-physician process can create a payment dispute.
The employee may petition for a one-time change of physician under the Commission procedure. The AWCC Legal Advisor Division can explain the process but cannot approve the change over the telephone or give personal legal advice.
Disability benefits replace part of qualifying wages
TTD generally pays 66⅔% of AWW, rounded to the nearest whole dollar, subject to a $20 minimum and the injury-year maximum. The 2026 total-disability maximum is $953. The first seven days are not initially payable; when disability lasts 14 calendar days, the waiting days become payable beginning the day after injury. The first installment is generally due on the fifteenth day after the employer has notice, with later payments normally every two weeks.
Permanent benefits require a medical impairment and the applicable statutory schedule. Standard PPD can follow either the $154 low-rate route or 75% of the total-disability rate, capped at $715 for 2026 injuries. Unscheduled whole-body disability uses a 450-week value and can involve wage-loss factors beyond the medical rating.
Use Form AR-C to present an employee claim
When benefits are denied, delayed or disputed, the employee claim is presented on Form AR-C. AWCC guidance states that an initial injury claim generally must be filed within two years from the injury and a claim for additional compensation generally within one year after the last payment. Occupational disease, death, prior orders and other procedural histories can change the analysis, so use the current form and obtain advice before the earliest possible date.
The Commission’s Legal Advisor Division offers process information and can arrange preliminary conferences or mediation. Unresolved disputes may proceed to an administrative law judge. A settlement is not final unless the Commission approves it.
Must the employer hold the job open?
AWCC guidance says the compensation law does not itself require the employer to keep a position open, although retaliation and unreasonable refusal to return a worker to suitable available employment are separate issues.
Are workers’ compensation payments taxable?
The AWCC brochure describes workers’ compensation payments as tax-free, but a worker with other benefits or unusual tax circumstances should obtain tax advice.
Can the Commission provide a lawyer?
Legal Advisors explain procedure and help with informal resolution; they do not act as the worker’s attorney.