Committee OKs requirement that minors receive pay stubs; bill amended to add a House sponsor

Senate Bill 585, introduced by Senator Greg Leding, would require employers above a stated size to furnish itemized pay statements to minor employees. Supporters told the committee the change is a financial-literacy and consumer-protection step for working youth.

Leding said the measure was drafted after stakeholder discussions and was narrowed to apply to employers with more than 10 employees following feedback from the state chamber. Leila Chisholm, assistant payroll manager for the city of Little Rock, told the committee the city issues pay stubs for its summer interns and that pay stubs help young workers spot payroll errors: “Almost every time it’s a worker that catches this mistake after reviewing their pay stub.” She said the city processes hundreds of payroll transactions and that a documented pay statement protects both workers and employers from erroneous refund claims.

Kristen Harper of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families testified in favor, calling pay stubs “an important teaching tool in financial literacy” and saying they protect vulnerable minors from payroll mistakes or exploitation.

Committee members asked whether the rule would create undue paperwork. Leding and witnesses said existing payroll systems often generate electronic pay statements automatically and that the requirement could be framed to minimize employer burden.

The committee passed the bill, then voted to expunge the initial passage from the record and add Representative Diana Gonzalez Worthen as a House sponsor. The committee then passed SB585 as amended; the final voice vote was recorded as “Ayes have it.”