Permits, hours & minimum wage: what Alabama law actually requires before your first shift, and the federal rule that can legally cut your pay to $4.25 an hour.
Three things decide what your first job in Alabama can look like: Alabama puts the permit obligation on your employer rather than on you, the state keeps setting hour limits after you turn 16, where most of the country stops, and the minimum wage sits at the federal floor of $7.25. They come from three different rulebooks, and two of them change on your 16th birthday.
Where the jobs are: Huntsville's aerospace and tech corridor, the Birmingham metro and the Gulf beaches at Orange Beach and Gulf Shores drive most teen hiring, and the coast swings hard toward summer.
Your employer handles it. The employer, via a child labor certificate for each work location (class i for ages 14-15, class ii for 16-17). You do not file anything yourself, but the certificate has to be in place before you start.
Two rulebooks apply depending on your age. Under 16 the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets limits that hold in every state. At 16 and 17 federal law sets none at all, so what Alabama adds is the entire limit you are working under.
These are the federal limits, and they apply in Alabama:
| Limit | Rule |
|---|---|
| Hours per school day | 3 maximum |
| Hours per school week | 18 maximum |
| Hours per non-school day | 8 maximum |
| Hours per non-school week | 40 maximum |
| Earliest start | 7:00 a.m. |
| Latest finish | 7:00 p.m. |
| Latest finish, June 1 to Labor Day | 9:00 p.m. |
Alabama is one of the states that does set rules here:
| Limit | Rule |
|---|---|
| Hour cap | None under state law |
| Enrolled in school | No work after 10:00 p.m. or before 5:00 a.m. on a night before a school day |
A school superintendent or headmaster can grant an exemption from those hours, but only where it is judged to be in your interest.
Federal law requires no breaks at any age, so anything you get in Alabama comes from state law rather than federal. Most states do require a break for workers under 18, commonly 30 minutes once you have worked four or five hours straight, and many of those same states require nothing at all for adults. Because the trigger point and the length both vary, confirm Alabama's current rule with the state labor department before you assume a long shift comes with one.
Alabama has no state minimum wage above the federal floor, so the rate is $7.25 an hour in 2026, the same as it has been since 2009.
| Situation | 2026 rate |
|---|---|
| Most employees | $7.25/hr (federal) |
| Under 20, first 90 consecutive days | $4.25/hr (federal youth wage) |
| Tipped employees | A lower cash wage plus tips, which must reach the full rate |
Work rules stop at the state line, and if you live near one it is worth knowing which side is easier to get hired on:
| State | Work permit | Min wage 2026 | Hours at 16 to 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Employer holds it | $7.25 | State limits |
| Mississippi | Under 16 | $7.25 | No state cap |
| Tennessee | None required | $7.25 | State limits |
| Georgia | Under 16 | $7.25 | No state cap |
| Florida | None required | $14.00 | State limits |
Federal law bars anyone under 18 from occupations classed as hazardous, and states add their own lists on top. In practice that is why teen jobs cluster in food service, retail, recreation and childcare. The restrictions cover things like operating most power-driven machinery, roofing, demolition, and work at significant heights, and they are stricter at 14 and 15 than at 16 and 17. In a state where a lot of teen work is seasonal and outdoors, the ones to watch are lifeguarding certifications, boat and watercraft operation, and anything involving commercial kitchen equipment during a busy season. Before accepting anything involving machinery, ladders, or a commercial kitchen's slicers and mixers, check the current list with the Alabama labor department.
Not personally. In Alabama, the obligation sits with the employer rather than with you: the employer, via a Child Labor Certificate for each work location (Class I for ages 14-15, Class II for 16-17).
Alabama sets specific limits at 16 and 17: hour cap — None under state law; enrolled in school — No work after 10:00 p.m. or before 5:00 a.m. on a night before a school day.
Up to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, or 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week when school is out, between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and extending to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Those are the federal limits and they apply in Alabama as they do everywhere.
$7.25 an hour. Alabama has no state minimum wage above the federal floor. Separately, federal law allows a youth wage of $4.25 an hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with an employer.
Federal law requires no breaks at any age, so anything you get in Alabama comes from state law rather than federal. Most states do require a break for workers under 18, commonly 30 minutes once you have worked four or five hours straight, and many of those same states require nothing at all for adults. Because the trigger point and the length both vary, confirm Alabama's current rule with the state labor department before you assume a long shift comes with one.
Fourteen for most non-farm jobs, which is the federal floor and applies in Alabama as everywhere else. Below 14 the exceptions are narrow: babysitting, newspaper delivery, working for your parents in a non-hazardous business, and performing. If you are not 14 yet, babysitting is the realistic route, and the age and licensing rules for that in Alabama are different from the employment rules on this page.