Child Labor Law Summaries

Alabama's child labor law is located in the Code of Alabama at Title 25, Chapter 8. The full text of the law is available at Wages-Hours 1-45,001 et seq.

COVERAGE

Alabama's child labor law does not specifically define who the law covers, but the law does refer to "persons, firms, and corporations."

EXCEPTIONS

Exceptions to prohibited employment

Agricultural service. --Persons under 16 years of age may be employed in agricultural service (Secs. 25-8-33 and 25-8-45).

Establishments selling alcoholic beverages. --Fourteen-or fifteen-year-old members of the immediate family of the owner or operator of an establishment selling alcoholic beverages may be employed in such establishments provided they do not serve, sell, dispense, or handle alcoholic beverages (Sec. 25-8-44).

Persons 16 years of age or older may be employed in establishments selling alcoholic beverages as busboys, dishwashers, janitors, cooks, hostesses, or seaters restricted to leading patrons to seats, and the employment of persons under 18 years of age as professional entertainers is also permissible (Sec. 25-8-44).

Street or public place occupations. --Persons 12 years of age or older may engage in the delivery of newspapers on fixed routes (Sec. 25-8-39).

Persons under 18 years of age may distribute, sell, expose, or offer for sale newspapers, magazines, periodicals, candy or other articles, or may be employed in any other trade or occupation performed in any street or public place, as long as they attend school regularly and have secured and have with them a work permit (Secs. 25-8-39 and 25-8-40).

Building trades. --Persons 14 or 15 years of age may be employed in the building trades if they are members of the immediate family of the contractor and the employment involves only nonhazardous duties and occupations (Sec. 25-8-35).

Apprenticeship programs. --Persons 16 or 17 years of age enrolled in work-study, student-learner, cooperative education or similar programs in which the employment is an integral part of the course of study and is registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the United States Department of Labor, may be employed to work in the occupations, positions or places enumerated in Sec. 25-8-43. Also permitted is the employment of persons under 18 in such occupations, positions or places, if the employment is procured and supervised through the Alabama Department of Education and approved by the Alabama Department of Labor (Sec. 25-8-43, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Hours of work

Any person 14 or 15 years of age may be employed outside school hours and during school vacation periods, so long as the work is not in, about, or in connection with, any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, cannery, mill, workshop, or machine shop or in any occupation or place of employment otherwise prohibited by law (Sec. 25-8-33).

Persons 16, 17 or 18 years of age who are enrolled in any public or private primary or secondary school system may work between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. on a night preceding a school day if the appropriate county or city superintendent of schools, or where there is no superintendent, the school headmaster, grants an exemption to these time restrictions. Exemptions may be granted only when the individual circumstances are found to be in the best interests of the minor. Information of any exemptions granted must be transmitted to a Child Labor Inspector on a form authorized by the Inspector (Sec. 25-8-36, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Persons under 16 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation during the hours in which the public schools of the district in which they reside are in session if the minor has completed the course of study required for secondary schools (Sec. 25-8-37, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Models. --Time and hour restrictions are not imposed upon persons under 18 years of age who are employed as models, but no person under 16 years of age may work any hours that interfere with the person's school performance (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Actors/performers. --Time and hour restrictions are not imposed upon persons under 18 years of age who are employed as actors and performers (Sec. 25-8-60).

Work permits

Models. --No work permits are required for persons under 18 years of age who are employed as models, but no person under 16 years of age may work any hours that interfere with the person's school performance (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Actors/performers. --No work permits are required for persons under 18 years of age who are employed as actors and performers (Sec. 25-8-60).

Federal summer youth programs. --No work permit is required from June 1 through August 31 for those persons employed in a federally funded summer youth program (Sec. 25-8-45).

WHAT THE EMPLOYER MUST DO

Generally, Alabama employers may employ minors in nonhazardous occupations if a work permit is secured; specific standards for working conditions are met; and certain hours restrictions are observed.

Prohibited employment

Hazardous employment. --No person under 16 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation, except in agricultural service, and except as otherwise provided in Alabama's child labor law. Any person 14 or 15 years of age may be employed outside school hours and during school vacation periods, so long as the person is not employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with, any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, cannery, mill, workshop, or machine shop or in any occupation or place of employment otherwise prohibited by law. The presence of any person under 18 years of age in any restricted business establishment or restricted occupation is prima facie evidence of the person's employment therein (Sec. 25-8-33).

No person under 16 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work at any of the following occupations, positions, or places (Sec. 25-8-35):

(2) Operating or assisting in operating any machines used in picking wool, cotton, hair, or any other material.

(3) In any work in or about a rolling mill, machine shop, or manufacturing establishment that is hazardous or dangerous to health, limb, or life.

(4) In proximity to any hazardous or unguarded gearing.

(5) Upon any vessel or boat engaged in navigation or commerce within the jurisdiction of Alabama.

(6) In the manufacture or packing of paints, colors, or white or red lead.

(7) In occupations causing dust in injurious quantities.

(8) In soldering, brazing, heat treating, or welding.

(9) In the building trades, except that persons 14 or 15 years of age who are members of the immediate family of the contractor may be employed in trades involving nonhazardous duties or occupations. Repairing, painting, or cleaning buildings or structures while working at the top of ladders, lifts, or scaffolds exceeding a height of six feet.

(10) In connection with a junk or scrap metal yard.

(11) Assorting, manufacturing, or packing tobacco.

(12) Operating any automobile, truck, or motor vehicle, or flagging or directing traffic.

(13) In airport hangars or landing strips or taxi and maintenance aprons.

(14) In connection with any lumberyard.

(15) In any place or occupation that the Department of Labor declares dangerous to life or limb or injurious to the health or morals of persons under 16 years of age.

Except for persons 16 or 17 years of age enrolled in work-study, student-learner, cooperative education or similar programs in which the employment is an integral part of the course of study and is registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the United States Department of Labor, and except for employment procured and supervised through the Alabama Department of Education and approved by the Department of Labor, no person under 18 years of age may be employed or permitted or suffered to work at any of the following occupations, positions, or places (Sec. 25-8-43, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000):

(1) In or about or in connection with any mine, coke breaker, coke oven, or quarry in any capacity.

(2) In wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking.

(3) In any tunnel or excavation with a depth of four feet or more.

(4) In any roofing, scaffolding, or sandblasting operations.

(5) Operating or driving any truck or heavy equipment over three tons gross weight.

(6) In logging or around any sawmill, lath mill, shingle, or cooperage-stock mill.

(7) Operating any power-driven woodworking, bakery, or paper-products machinery.

(8) Upon any steam, electric, diesel, hydraulic, or other railroad.

(9) As firefighters.

(10) Operating any stamping machines used in sheet metal or tin ware, or in paper or leather manufacturing, or washer or nut factories.

(11) In or around any steam boiler or rolling mill machinery.

(12) Operating any power-driven metal forming, cutting, straightening, drawing, punching, or shearing machines.

(13) Operating or assisting in operating any elevators, open-freight elevators, cranes, derricks, or other power-driven hoisting apparatus, with the exception of an unattended automatic passenger elevator.

(14) Operating any paper cutting, stapling, corrugating, or punching machines.

(15) Assembling, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or servicing machinery in motion.

(16) Operating any circular saws, band saws, or guillotine shears.

(17) In or around any distillery where alcoholic beverages are manufactured, bottled, wrapped, or packed.

(18) In the manufacture, storage, or transportation of explosive components.

(19) In the manufacturing of brick, tile, or similar products.

(20) In the manufacture or transportation of dangerous or toxic chemicals or compounds.

(21) In, about, or in connection with, poisonous dyes, dangerous or poisonous gases, compositions of lye in dangerous quantities, dangerous or poisonous acids, or pesticides.

(22) In any activity involving exposure to radioactive substances or ionizing radiation.

(23) Around asbestos or any other cancer-causing agents.

(24) Operating or assisting in operating any job, cylinder, or offset printing presses.

(25) In any activity involving slaughtering, butchering, and meat cutting.

(26) In any place or occupation that the Department of Labor may declare dangerous to life or limb or injurious to the health or morals of persons under 18 years of age.

Street or public place occupations. --No person under 14 years of age may distribute, sell, expose, or offer for sale newspapers, magazines, periodicals, candy, or other articles, or be employed or permitted or suffered to work in any other trade or occupation performed in any street or public place. Persons 12 years of age or older, however, may engage in the delivery of newspapers on fixed routes (Sec. 25-8-39).

Establishments selling alcoholic beverages. --No person under the state legal drinking age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to serve or dispense alcoholic beverages in any establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold, served, or dispensed for consumption on the premises (Sec. 25-8-44).

No person under 18 years of age may work in that part of an establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold, served, or dispensed for consumption on the premises, but persons 16 years of age or older may be employed as busboys, dishwashers, janitors, cooks, hostesses, or seaters restricted to leading patrons to seats, and the employment of persons under 18 years of age as professional entertainers is also permissible (Sec. 25-8-44).

Fourteen-or fifteen-year-old members of the immediate family of the owner or operator of an establishment selling alcoholic beverages may be employed in such establishments provided they do not serve, sell, dispense, or handle alcoholic beverages (Sec. 25-8-44).

Permitted employment --specific occupations

Actors/performers. --Persons may be employed and appear for the purpose of singing, acting, or performing in any studio or movie set of a motion picture approved and coordinated by the Alabama Film Office in conjunction with and under the jurisdiction and supervision of the Department of Labor. A person under 18 years of age may be employed as provided in this section only under the following conditions and with the written consent of the Alabama Film Office, the Department of Labor and the parent, legal guardian, or responsible adult of the person (Sec. 25-8-60):

(1) The activities enumerated must not be detrimental to the life, health, safety, welfare, or morals of the person.

(3) A parent, guardian, or a responsible adult so designated by the parent or guardian, must accompany each person under 16 years of age at all rehearsals, appearances, and performances.

Models. --Any person, firm, agency, or corporation that employs, permits, or suffers any person under 18 years of age to be used in any type of modeling must have written consent from the parent or guardian of the person, must notify the Child Labor Division on a form authorized by the Department of Labor, and must comply with all of the following conditions (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000):

(1) The parent of the person must not let the modeling interfere with that person's school performance.

(2) The activities enumerated must not be detrimental to the life, health, safety, welfare, or morals of the person.

(3) A parent, guardian, or a responsible adult so designated by the parent or guardian must accompany each person under 16 years of age to all sessions.

Hours of work

No person 14 or 15 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation for more than six days in any one week, or for more than 40 hours in any one week, or for more than eight hours in any one day, or before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. during school summer vacation. During the time school is in regular session, no person 14 or 15 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation for more than six days in any one week, or for more than eight hours on a nonschool day, or more than three hours on a school day, or for more than 18 hours in any school week, and not before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. (Sec. 25-8-36, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

No person 16, 17 or 18 years of age, who is enrolled in any public or private primary or secondary school system, may work between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. on any night preceding a school day. The appropriate county or city superintendent of schools, or where there is no superintendent, the school headmaster, may grant exemptions to the above time restrictions. Exemptions may be granted only when the individual circumstances are found to be in the best interests of the minor. Information of any exemptions granted must be transmitted to a Child Labor Inspector on a form authorized by the Inspector (Sec. 25-8-36, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

No person under 16 years of age may be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in any gainful occupation during the hours in which the public schools of the district in which the person resides are in session, unless the minor has completed the course of study required for secondary schools. Persons 14 or 15 years of age, when school attendance has been waived, may, upon recommendation of the superintendent of education in the area and approval by a Child Labor Inspector, be issued a work permit for nonhazardous occupations (Sec. 25-8-37, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Employment during school hours and employment of persons 14 or 15 years of age upon a waiver of school attendance as authorized above must not be employed for more than eight hours in any one day, or for more than 40 hours in any one week, or for more than six days in any one week, and not before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. (Sec. 25-8-37, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Models. --Time and hour restrictions are not imposed upon persons under 18 years of age who are employed as models, but no person under 16 years of age may work any hours that interfere with the person's school performance (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Working conditions

Every person, firm, or corporation owning or controlling any establishment in which minors are employed must keep the establishment in a sanitary condition and properly ventilated, and must provide suitable and convenient restrooms, separate for each sex, and in the number and locations required by the Department of Labor. When 20 or more persons are employed, sanitary drinking fountains must be provided in the number the department deems necessary. All restrooms must be maintained inside the establishments, except in situations in which it is impracticable, in the opinion of the department (Sec. 25-8-54).

Work permits

No person, firm, or corporation may employ, permit, or suffer any person 14 or 15 years of age to work in any gainful occupation, except in agricultural service, unless the person, firm, or corporation procures and keeps on file for the inspection by the officials charged with the enforcement of Alabama's child labor law, a work permit for every person 14 or 15 years of age and a complete list of those employees who are 14 or 15 years of age (Sec. 25-8-45).

No person, firm, or corporation may employ, permit, or suffer any person 18 years of age to work in any capacity in, about or in connection with any mine, coke breaker, coke oven, or quarry, or any person 16 or 17 years of age to work in any other gainful occupation, except in agricultural service, unless the person, firm, or corporation procures and keeps on file work permits for those minors (Sec. 25-8-45).

Who may issue work permits. --The county or city school superintendent, or headmaster or principal of a private school, will issue all work permits. The superintendent, headmaster, or principal may designate in a letter to the Department of Labor a school employee acting in such official's name to issue the permits. Only school principals, teachers, counselors, coordinators, or clerical personnel in a school or in the superintendent's office may issue permits. No person employed by any person, firm, or corporation employing minors may issue a permit (Sec. 25-8-46).

Statement by employer. --An employer must furnish the person authorized to issue and in the process of issuing a work permit for a minor with a written statement to the effect that it intends to employ the minor. The statement must give the nature of the occupation and the job duties for which the minor is to be employed (Sec. 25-8-47).

Scope of work permits. --A work permit may allow the employment of a person 14 or 15 years of age who is doing satisfactory school work to work only outside school hours or during vacation periods, and only in occupations not prohibited by Alabama's child labor law for persons of these ages. A work permit may also allow the employment of a person 16 or 17 years of age to work in occupations not prohibited for persons of these ages by the child labor law (Sec. 25-8-46).

Cancellation. --Any official charged with the enforcement of Alabama's child labor law may cancel any work permit found to be illegally or improperly issued. When the permit is canceled, the employer of the person for whom the permit is issued must be notified, and after such notice is given, it is unlawful to employ the person. The minor may be reemployed after a new permit is regularly issued (Sec. 25-8-41).

Federal summer youth programs. --No work permit is required from June 1 through August 31 for those persons employed in a federally funded summer youth program; however, the hour and prohibited occupation restrictions are not waived (Sec. 25-8-45).

Models. --No work permits are required for persons under 18 years of age who are employed as models, but no person under 16 years of age may work any hours that interfere with the person's school performance (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Street or public place occupations. --No person under 18 years of age may engage in any occupation mentioned in Sec. 25-8-39 unless the person has secured and has with him or her a work permit (Sec. 25-8-45).

Meal and rest periods

No person 14 or 15 years of age may be employed for more than five hours continuously without an interval of at least 30 minutes for a meal or rest period. Any meal or rest period of less than 30 minutes is not considered to interrupt a continuous period of work (Sec. 25-8-38).

Retaliation

No person may discriminate against any individual because the individual has opposed any act or practice made unlawful by Alabama's child labor law or because the individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the law (Sec. 25-8-57).

No employer, agent of an employer, or any other person may discharge or otherwise discipline, threaten, harass, blacklist, or in any other manner discriminate against an applicant, employee, former employee, or any other person because that individual disclosed any information not prohibited from disclosure by statute, refused to obey an illegal order, or in any other lawful manner challenged or revealed any violation of Alabama's child labor law (Sec. 25-8-57).

Notice

Models. --Any person, firm, agency or corporation that employs, permits or suffers any person under 18 years of age to be used in any type of modeling must notify the Child Labor Division on a form authorized by the Department of Labor (Sec. 25-8-61, as amended by S. 296, L. 2000, effective May 23, 2000).

Enforcement

The Department of Labor enforces Alabama's child labor law and will institute prosecution for any violation of the law (Sec. 25-8-52).

The Department of Labor will remove from any establishment any minor found employed or working, contrary to law, or who is afflicted with any infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, or whose physical condition is such that it makes it hazardous for the person to perform the work (Sec. 25-8-56).

Police officers, school attendance officers, and other peace officers are authorized to enforce Sec. 25-8-58 (Sec. 25-8-58).

Inspections. --The Department of Labor has the right to enter, without prior notice or warrant, any business establishment for the purpose of routine inspections. These visits will be conducted as frequently as needed to insure that minors are employed in compliance with Alabama's child labor law (Sec. 25-8-52).

The department must inspect thoroughly every establishment in which persons subject to Alabama's child labor law are employed and will issue a written order for the correction of unsanitary or unhealthy conditions in those establishments and report those conditions to public health officials (Sec. 25-8-55).

School attendance officers have the same right of access to and inspection of establishments where minors are or may be employed or detained as is given by law to the Department of Labor. School attendance officers, when authorized by the department, may institute prosecutions (Sec. 25-8-53).

Work permits, cancellation. --Any official charged with the enforcement of Alabama's child labor law may cancel any work permit found to be illegally or improperly issued. When the permit is canceled, the employer of the person for whom the permit is issued must be notified, and after such notice is given, it is unlawful to employ the person. The minor may be reemployed after a new permit is regularly issued (Sec. 25-8-41).

Work permits, revocation due to misrepresentation/fraud. --The official charged with enforcing Alabama's child labor law may investigate each case in which the official believes that a person holding a permit to work in a street or public place occupation is not entitled to its possession, and if satisfied from the evidence obtained that the person has secured the permit through misrepresentation or fraud, the official may revoke the permit and return it to the official who issued it. Use of a permit will be revoked or suspended by either the issuing officer or by any official charged with the enforcement of the child labor law if the person's school record is not satisfactory to the principal of the school that the person attends (Sec. 25-8-41).

Who to Contact

Contact the Department of Labor at 100 North Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130. Telephone: (334)242-3460.

Record Keeping

Time records. --Each employer must keep on or about the premises at which any person under 18 years of age is employed time records that state the number of hours worked each day, starting and ending times, and any other information the Department of Labor may require. The employer must keep these records on file for not less than one year (Sec. 25-8-38).

Work permits. --No person, firm, or corporation may employ, permit, or suffer any person 14 or 15 years of age to work in any gainful occupation, except in agricultural service, unless the person, firm, or corporation procures and keeps on file for the inspection by the officials charged with the enforcement of Alabama's child labor law, a work permit for every person 14 or 15 years of age and a complete list of those employees who are 14 or 15 years of age (Sec. 25-8-45).

Additionally, no person, firm, or corporation may employ, permit, or suffer any person 18 years of age to work in any capacity in, about or in connection with any mine, coke breaker, coke oven, or quarry, or any person 16 or 17 years of age to work in any other gainful occupation, except in agricultural service, unless the person, firm, or corporation procures and keeps on file work permits for those minors (Sec. 25-8-45).

Posting

Every employer must keep posted in a conspicuous place where any person under 18 years of age is employed, permitted, or suffered to work, a printed notice stating the maximum number of hours persons under 18 may be permitted to work on each day of the week as set out in Sec. 25-8-36. The printed form of the notice will be furnished by the Department of Labor. The employment of any person for a longer time period in any day so stated, or at any time other than as stated in the printed form of notice, is deemed a violation of Alabama's child labor law (Sec. 25-8-38).

Penalties

Criminal penalties. --Any person, firm, or corporation who violates Alabama's child labor law, or who fails or refuses to obey within a reasonable time any lawful order or direction given by the state officials charged with the enforcement of the law, and any parent, guardian, or custodian who suffers or permits a person under his or her care or control who is under 18 years of age to work in violation of the state's child labor law is deemed guilty of a Class B or C misdemeanor, unless another penalty is specifically provided in the child labor law. A first conviction is deemed a Class C misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500. A second or subsequent conviction is deemed a Class B misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 (Sec. 25-8-59).

Civil penalties. --Any person who sells, offers for sale, or furnishes any article of any description to a person under 16 years of age to be used for the purpose of sale or barter upon the streets or in any public place, without first ascertaining whether the minor has a work permit as required by Alabama's child labor law, and any person who engages in such activity with a minor person who does not have a permit will be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 (Sec. 25-8-58).