Arkansas Workplace Harassment Laws: ACRA 9-Employee Rule (2026)

Arkansas law reaches workplace harassment through the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 (ACRA), which declares the right of an otherwise qualified person "to obtain and hold employment without discrimination" because of race, religion, national origin, gender or disability (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-107(a)(1)). The act contains no workplace harassment clause; in Island v. Buena Vista Resort, 352 Ark. 548 (2003), the Arkansas Supreme Court looked to federal Title VII cases and held that the trial court erred in ruling the act inapplicable to workplace sexual harassment.

The act covers employers with nine or more employees in Arkansas, and an employee's claim is a lawsuit against the employer, filed in court rather than with a state agency. For other states and the federal rules, see workplace harassment laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Arkansas state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993, chiefly Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-123-102, 16-123-103, 16-123-107 and 16-123-108, with notes on §§ 11-3-204, 11-5-115, 21-3-201 to 21-3-203 and 21-12-103. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full lawsuit procedure (see Arkansas wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, or federal-employee procedure.

Arkansas harassment rules at a glance

What Arkansas law prohibits

Section 16-123-107(a) frames employment discrimination as a civil right:

"(a) The right of an otherwise qualified person to be free from discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, gender, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability is recognized as and declared to be a civil right. This right shall include, but not be limited to: (1) The right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination;" (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-107(a)(1))

The ACRA's employment provisions do not use the word harassment. The one ACRA section that does, § 16-123-106, creates an action for intimidation or harassment motivated by racial, religious or ethnic animosity, and it expressly does not apply to a civil action "(A) Between an employee and his or her employer or between or among employees of the same employer; (B) For damages arising out of an incident occurring in the workplace; or (C) Arising out of the employee-employer relationship" (§ 16-123-106(c)(2)). Workplace harassment therefore runs through the employment-discrimination right in § 16-123-107(a)(1), not through § 16-123-106.

How the Arkansas Supreme Court reads the act

In Island v. Buena Vista Resort, the Arkansas Supreme Court explained that "because the Arkansas Civil Rights Act does not include language specifically prohibiting 'workplace sexual harassment,' we look to the federal courts for guidance." It set out the elements of a hostile work environment claim that it took from federal case law:

"[A] plaintiff asserting a hostile work environment claim must show (1) membership in a protected group or class, (2) unwelcome sexual harassment (3) based upon gender (4) resulting in an effect on a term, condition, or privilege of employment, and (5) that the employer knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take proper remedial action. ... In addition, the plaintiff must show that the sexual harassment created an environment that was both objectively and subjectively abusive." (Island v. Buena Vista Resort, 352 Ark. 548 (2003))

The court concluded that "the trial court erred in determining that the Arkansas Civil Rights Act is not applicable to workplace sexual harassment." These elements come from the court's opinion, not from the statute's text. The case concerned sexual harassment; the ACRA itself defines no harassment standard for its other protected traits.

Which Arkansas employers are covered

Section 16-123-102(5) sets one threshold for every ACRA employment claim, harassment included:

"(5) 'Employer' means a person who employs nine (9) or more employees in the State of Arkansas in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year;"

Three groups of workers fall outside the definition of employee in § 16-123-102(4): an individual employed by his or her parents, spouse or child; an individual in a specialized employment training program run by a nonprofit sheltered workshop or rehabilitation facility; and an individual employed outside Arkansas.

Religious employers are excluded as well: "The provisions of this subchapter relating to employment shall not be applicable with respect to employment by a religious corporation, association, society, or other religious entity" (§ 16-123-103(a)).

The federal Title VII definition of employer is different: "a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year" (42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)). An Arkansas employer with nine to 14 employees can fall under the ACRA but not under Title VII; the workplace harassment laws hub covers the federal layer.

Protected traits under the ACRA

Section 16-123-107(a) protects against discrimination because of five traits, and § 16-123-102 defines several of them:

• Race: includes discrimination "on account of a natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle" (§ 16-123-102(10)).
• Religion: "all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice" (§ 16-123-102(8)).
• National origin: "includes ancestry" (§ 16-123-102(6)) and, since 2023, includes discrimination on account of a natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle (§ 16-123-102(9)).
• Gender: "'Because of gender' means, but is not limited to, on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions" (§ 16-123-102(1)).
• Disability: the statute covers "the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability" and defines disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life function." The definition excludes compulsive gambling, kleptomania or pyromania; current use of illegal drugs or psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from illegal use of drugs; and alcoholism (§ 16-123-102(3)).

The ACRA's list does not name age, color, sexual orientation or gender identity. Since Act 514 of 2023 (the Arkansas CROWN Act), discrimination because of race or national origin includes discrimination "on account of a natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle," defined to include "afros, dreadlocks, twists, locs, braids, cornrow braids, Bantu knots, curls, and hair styled to protect hair texture or for cultural significance" (§ 16-123-102(9), (10), (12)).

Age (public employers only). A separate subchapter makes it unlawful for "a public employer" to "discriminate against any individual with respect to his or her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the individual's age" (§ 21-3-203(a)(1)), and its prohibitions "shall be limited to individuals who are at least forty (40) years of age" (§ 21-3-202). That subchapter does not reach private employers.

Employer responsibility and the individual harasser

The ACRA puts the employment claim on the employer. Section 16-123-107(c)(1)(A) provides that an individual "who is injured by employment discrimination by an employer in violation of subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall have a civil action against the employer only in a court of competent jurisdiction." The retaliation section repeats the point for its own claims: an employment-related claim for retaliation or interference "may be brought only against an employer" (§ 16-123-108(c)(2)).

The statute does not set out when an employer answers for harassment by a supervisor as opposed to a coworker. The Island elements quoted above include that "the employer knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take proper remedial action."

Retaliation for complaining

Section 16-123-108(a) provides that "[a] person shall not discriminate against any individual because the individual in good faith has opposed any act or practice made unlawful by this subchapter or because the individual in good faith made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter." For employment-related claims, the remedies and procedures are those of § 16-123-107(c) (§ 16-123-108(c)(2)). How a firing after a complaint fits with Arkansas's default employment rule is covered on the Arkansas at-will employment page.

Deadlines and where to file

The ACRA has no state agency step. The deadline for suit is in § 16-123-107(c)(4):

"(4) Any action based on employment discrimination in violation of subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall be brought within one (1) year after the alleged employment discrimination occurred, or within ninety (90) days of receipt of a 'Right to Sue' letter or a notice of 'Determination' from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concerning the alleged unlawful employment practice, whichever is later."

A federal claim runs through the EEOC, which states that its "180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis," and that in harassment cases the charge is due "within 180 or 300 days of the last incident of harassment." The EEOC's Little Rock Area Office states that an individual has 180 days from the date of alleged harm to file a charge against an employer with 15 or more employees for discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion or disability in Arkansas.

The steps of a lawsuit, remedies and the ACRA's damages limits are on the Arkansas wrongful termination page. The Arkansas employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Training and written policies

The ACRA contains no requirement that private employers provide harassment training, adopt a written harassment policy or post a notice. The Arkansas rule on written policies is aimed at state government: "Every state agency shall include in its personnel manual a statement that discrimination by any officer or employee based upon race, creed, religion, national origin, age, sex, or gender shall constitute grounds for dismissal" (§ 21-12-103(a)).

NDAs, references and arbitration

The ACRA contains no provision limiting nondisclosure, confidentiality or arbitration terms in harassment agreements or settlements. Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes: the Speak Out Act makes a nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a sexual harassment dispute arises judicially unenforceable where the conduct is alleged to violate federal, tribal or state law, and the Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets the person alleging sexual harassment elect court over a predispute arbitration agreement, both explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Arkansas's reference statute points the other way: it permits disclosure rather than limiting it. Act 369 of 2025 (approved March 20, 2025; effective August 5, 2025) added to the list of information a current or former employer may disclose to a prospective employer, "upon receipt of written consent from the current or former employee," "(H) A substantiated allegation of sexual abuse or sexual harassment by the employee, or the resignation by a former employee during a pending investigation of an allegation of sexual abuse or sexual harassment against the former employee" (§ 11-3-204(a)(1)(H)). The section permits that disclosure with written consent; it does not require it.

Workplace violence injunctions (employer remedy)

Section 11-5-115 gives an employer, not an individual employee, a court route when the employer or its employee or invitee has been "stalked or harassed at the work site" as defined by the criminal loitering, criminal trespass, harassment or stalking statutes. In that case "the employer may, in addition to, or instead of, filing criminal charges against the individual, seek a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or an injunction under Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 65 prohibiting further unlawful acts by that individual at the work site" (§ 11-5-115(a)(3)).

Is workplace bullying illegal in Arkansas?

The ACRA reaches discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, gender or disability. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying that is not tied to one of those traits.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

The rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the Arkansas workplace recording laws page. Employer monitoring of email, devices and workspaces is covered on the Arkansas employee monitoring laws page.

Recent changes

• 2025: Act 369 (HB 1643), approved March 20, 2025, and effective August 5, 2025, amended § 11-3-204 to let an employer disclose to a prospective employer, with the employee's written consent, a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse or sexual harassment, or a resignation during a pending investigation of such an allegation.
• 2023: Act 514 (HB 1576, the CROWN Act), approved April 10, 2023, and effective August 1, 2023, added definitions to § 16-123-102 so that discrimination because of race or national origin includes discrimination on account of a natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle.

Related pages

• Workplace harassment laws by state
• Arkansas wrongful termination
• Arkansas at-will employment laws
• Arkansas employee monitoring laws
• Arkansas workplace recording laws

This article provides general legal information about Arkansas workplace harassment law under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Arkansas or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace harassment illegal in Arkansas?

The Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 bars employment discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, gender or disability (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-107(a)(1)). It has no separate harassment clause, but in Island v. Buena Vista Resort (2003) the Arkansas Supreme Court held the act applies to workplace sexual harassment, using federal Title VII elements.

How many employees does an Arkansas employer need to be covered?

Nine or more employees in Arkansas in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (§ 16-123-102(5)). The same threshold applies to harassment and other discrimination claims under the act.

How long do I have to sue for workplace harassment in Arkansas?

An ACRA employment action must be brought within one year after the alleged discrimination, or within 90 days of receiving an EEOC right-to-sue letter or notice of determination, whichever is later (§ 16-123-107(c)(4)).

Is there an Arkansas state agency for harassment complaints?

The ACRA names none. Section 16-123-107(c)(1)(A) gives an injured individual a civil action against the employer only in a court of competent jurisdiction. Federal charges go to the EEOC; its Little Rock Area Office states a 180-day period from the alleged harm to file a charge in Arkansas.

Can I sue the coworker or supervisor who harassed me under Arkansas law?

Not under the ACRA's employment provisions. Section 16-123-107(c)(1)(A) gives the civil action against the employer only, and § 16-123-108(c)(2) limits employment-related retaliation and interference claims to the employer.

Does Arkansas protect against age harassment at work?

The ACRA does not list age. A separate subchapter bars public employers from discriminating against individuals at least 40 years old in compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment (§§ 21-3-202, 21-3-203(a)(1)); it does not reach private employers.

Does Arkansas require sexual harassment training for private employers?

The ACRA contains no training, written-policy or posting requirement. Arkansas law does require every state agency's personnel manual to state that discrimination by an officer or employee based on race, creed, religion, national origin, age, sex or gender is grounds for dismissal (§ 21-12-103(a)).

Is workplace bullying illegal in Arkansas?

The ACRA reaches discrimination because of the traits it lists. It contains no provision on general workplace bullying unconnected to race, religion, national origin, gender or disability.