Arkansas Employment Law Update — April 2019

Employees and Forced Human Microchips

On March 19, 2019, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed legislation (H.B. 1177) to protect employees from forced human microchip implantation. Under the law, employers must not:

• Ask on an employment application, or inquire during an interview, if a prospective employee will consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body.
• Require an employee to have a microchip implanted in his or her body as a condition of employment.
• Coerce an employee into consenting to have a microchip implanted in his or her body.
• Create a hostile work environment for an employee who does not consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body.
• Withhold advancement within the company from an employee who does not consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body.
• Withhold a salary or wage increase from an employee who does not consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body.
• Dismiss an employee based on his or her decision to not consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body.

Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who does not consent to having a microchip implanted in his or her body. However, at the employer’s request, a microchip may be implanted in an employee’s body if the employee provides written consent to it. An employee may request removal of the microchip at any time.

The law also provides specifics as to employer responsibilities upon implementation of an implant, retention of the microchip, and the option to use alternative noninvasive technology to track an employee’s movement.

The law is effective August 9, 2019.

Read AR H.B. 1177