§ 11-4-206 - Penalties.
11-4-206. Penalties.
(a) (1) Any employer who willfully hinders or delays the Director of the Department of Labor or his or her authorized representative in the performance of his or her duties in the enforcement of this subchapter, willfully refuses to admit the director or his or her authorized representative to any place of employment, willfully fails to make, keep, and preserve any records as required under the provisions of this subchapter, willfully falsifies any such record, willfully refuses to make the record accessible to the director or his or her authorized representative upon demand, willfully refuses to furnish a sworn statement of the record or any other information required for the proper enforcement of this subchapter to the director or his or her authorized representative upon demand, willfully fails to post a summary of this subchapter or a copy of any applicable regulations as required by 11-4-216, pays or agrees to pay minimum wages at a rate less than the rate applicable under this subchapter, or otherwise willfully violates any provision of this subchapter or of any regulation issued under this subchapter shall be deemed in violation of this subchapter and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not fewer than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, each violation shall constitute a separate offense.
(b) Any employer who willfully discharges or in any other manner willfully discriminates against any employee because the employee has made any complaint to his or her employer or to the director or his or her authorized representative that he or she has not been paid minimum wages in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter or because the employee has caused to be instituted or is about to cause to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this subchapter or because the employee has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding shall be deemed in violation of this subchapter and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not fewer than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation.
(c) For the purposes of this section, each day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(d) The director shall determine the amount of the penalty and shall consider the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business and the gravity of the violation.
(e) The determination by the director shall be final unless within fifteen (15) days after receipt of notice thereof by certified mail the person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association charged with the violation notifies the director in writing that he or she contests the proposed penalty. In the event that a penalty is contested, a final determination shall be made pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, 25-15-201 et seq.
(f) Upon a final administrative determination, the amount of the penalty may be recovered in a civil action brought by the director in a court of competent jurisdiction without paying costs or giving bond for costs.
(g) Sums collected under this section shall be paid into the Department of Labor Special Fund.
(h) Assessment of a civil penalty by the director shall be made no later than three (3) years after the date of the occurrence of the violation.
(i) In addition to the civil penalty provided by this section, the director is authorized to petition any court of competent jurisdiction, without paying costs or giving bond for costs, to enjoin or restrain any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who violates the provisions of this subchapter or any regulation issued thereunder.