Workers' comp · AR
Arkansas workers' comp calculator
Arkansas runs two weekly ceilings side by side, one for total disability and a lower one for permanent partial disability.
Rules read on official Arkansas pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Benefit rate
- 66.67%
- Gross average weekly wage before taxes
- Weekly maximum
- $953
- from January 1, 2026
- Weekly minimum
- $20
- floor
- Waiting period
- 7 days
- paid back past 14 days
For a 2026 injury, the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission pays temporary total disability at 66.67% of the worker's average weekly wage, rounded to the nearest whole dollar, up to $953 a week (Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-501(b)). That maximum is 85% of the state average weekly wage of $1,120.68 and applies to injuries from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. Permanent partial disability has its own, lower ceiling of $715, because it is paid at 75% of the TD rate. The weekly minimum for both is $20. No benefit is paid for the first 7 days of disability if it ends before 14 calendar days; once it reaches 14 days, benefits run from the day after the injury. A distribution-center loader earning $880 a week who is out 16 days receives $587 a week and $1,341 in all. Disputed claims go to a Commission administrative law judge, and the Commission must approve every attorney fee.
Weekly temporary total disability benefit in Arkansas
$733
$3,178 a month · 66.67% of the wage, tax-free
| 66.67% of $1,100 | $733 |
| Weekly maximum / minimum | $953 / $20 |
| Days paid / unpaid waiting days | 30 / 0 |
| Total for the time off | $3,143 |
Estimate of wage-loss benefits for a total disability, from the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission (AWCC), Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing rates. Medical care is paid separately; partial disability, permanent impairment ratings and settlements follow other rules. How this is calculated.
Two ceilings for one injury
Every year the Commission reissues Advisory 2000-1, first published in August 2000, with the maximums for the next calendar year. For 2026 it lists $953 for total disability and $715 for permanent partial disability. The second figure is not a separate wage cap; it is 75% of the first, rounded. So a timber-mill saw filer averaging $1,600 a week, who computes to $1,067, receives $953 while healing and about $715 a week once the doctor assigns a permanent rating. Amputation and total loss of use of a member are the exception: they are paid at the full TD rate. You reach the TD ceiling at roughly $1,429 of gross weekly pay.
Arkansas also rounds each rate to the nearest dollar, which the calculator on this page does not do; expect a difference of less than a dollar a week. The $20 weekly minimum has not moved since July 1, 1986, according to the Advisory's history table.
Fourteen calendar days, counted from the day after
The Commission's Legal Advisor brochure explains the waiting rule in plain terms: disability benefits are not paid for the first 7 days, counting from the day after the injury, if the disability does not last 14 calendar days; if it does, benefits are payable from the day following the injury. A loader at $880 a week who comes back after 12 days is paid $419; the same loader out 16 days is paid $1,341. Checks come every other week, and the payments are tax-free.
Major cause and the 26-week mental injury limit
Arkansas sets a high bar for compensability. For a compensable injury the work accident must be the major cause (more than 50%) of disability or need for treatment; mental injuries must generally result from a physical injury. The same brochure limits disability benefits for a mental injury to 26 weeks, and a heart attack is covered only if the work exertion was extraordinary compared with the regular job. Once healed, a worker whose impairment cut pre-injury wages can claim wage-loss benefits on top of the impairment rating.
Fees are split. In a contested case, half of the approved attorney fee is paid by the employer or carrier and half by the worker out of the award, and no fee is valid without Commission approval. Arkansas' no-fault workers' compensation law was created by an initiated act in 1939.
The Arkansas rules this calculator applies
| Rule | Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Temporary total disability rate | 66.67% of gross average weekly wage before taxes |
| Weekly maximum | $953 |
| Weekly minimum | $20 |
| Applies to | injury or death on and after January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 (state AWW $1,120.68) |
| Waiting period | 7 days, paid back when the disability lasts more than 14 days |
| Limit on temporary total benefits | no fixed number of weeks |
Rate. 66 2/3% of the individual average weekly wage, rounded to the nearest whole dollar, up to 85% of the state average weekly wage (Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-501(b)). source
Waiting period. Disability benefits are not paid for the first seven days of disability, commencing the day after the injury, if the disability does not last 14 calendar days; if it does, benefits are payable from the day following the injury (Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-501(a)). source
Duration. TTD is paid during the healing period while the employee suffers a total incapacity to earn wages; disability benefits for mental injuries are limited to 26 weeks. source
Permanent disability. PPD is paid after release to work for permanent impairment; the PPD rate is 75% of the TD rate, rounded, up to $715.00 in 2026 (66 2/3% of AWW up to $154.00 if TD is under $205.35), and amputation or total loss of use of a member is paid at the TD rate (Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-501(d)). Wage-loss benefits may be added if the impairment affected pre-injury wages. source
Worth knowing in Arkansas
- Arkansas has two separate weekly maximums: $953.00 for total disability and $715.00 for permanent partial disability for 2026 injuries. source
- The weekly minimum of $20.00 has not changed since July 1, 1986, according to AWCC Advisory 2000-1's history table. source
- Attorney fees must be approved by the Commission; in contested cases half is paid by the employer or carrier and half by the worker out of the award. source
- Arkansas' no-fault workers' compensation law was created by an initiated act in 1939. source
- For a compensable injury the work accident must be the major cause (more than 50%) of disability or need for treatment; mental injuries must generally result from a physical injury. source