Arkansas Unemployment Checklist: Weekly Work Search Rules, Excel Log and Documents to Gather

Who it is for

People claiming unemployment in Arkansas who need to keep a weekly work search record for Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, and family members helping them stay organized.

Not the right fit if

You claim unemployment in a state other than Arkansas, or you need help with a denied claim or an appeal: this organizes the weekly work search record and doesn't advise on eligibility.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Arkansas work search data file, checked November 2026 against 2 official pages: Code of Arkansas Rules, 11 CAR 1-104: Work search; Arkansas DWS: Unemployment insurance FAQs.
• 2 items the official pages didn't state are left out and put on the kit's look-up list with the agency's page, never guessed.
• The Excel summary flags any week with fewer than 2 logged activities, recalculating with zero formula errors.

What is inside

• Arkansas weekly work search log (Excel). A log with the columns Arkansas Division of Workforce Services asks for (Employer or organization, Date, Job title or type of work, How you made contact, Result), a weekly summary that counts your activities against Arkansas's 2 to 5 per week and a documents checklist.
• Start here: Arkansas filing and work search steps. The 6 facts Arkansas Division of Workforce Services's pages confirm, each with its source and check date, and a short look-up list of 2 points to check on the agency's page: official list of activities, job bank registration. The weekly requirement, in the agency's words: Arkansas rule 11 CAR 1-104: in metropolitan areas at least 3 and no more than 5 job contacts a week; in other labor market areas at least 2 and no more than 4. At least one contact must be in person unless an exception applies (for example, you normally get jobs by phone or correspondence). How to report: From the thirteenth compensable week you must submit your job contacts in writing on the division's form (in some high-unemployment situations, from the nineteenth week). Activities Arkansas counts: contacting employers in person, by phone or by correspondence; job contacts that come from a referral by a private employment agency; registering with the job service (counts once for each continuous period of unemployment); other efforts made to secure work (together they count as no more than one job contact a week). Records: Keep documentation of your job contacts for the weeks claimed, starting with the week written reports begin. Who may not have to search, per the agency: hours cut to part time with an assurance of return to full time within ten weeks, or working at least eight hours for that employer that week; A definite promise of a job starting within ten weeks, backed by a written employer statement when you file; attending school full time in a training course approved by the Division Director, or an approved federal program such as the Trade Act; the Director may reduce or eliminate the requirements when labor market conditions warrant.
• Documents to gather. A checklist of the papers a claim usually asks for (IDs, employer names and dates, pay records, separation papers), with space for anything Arkansas's application adds.
• Printable weekly work search log. A paper version of the log with Arkansas's columns, one week per page, for claimants who prefer to write it down.