AZ · State teen labor law
Arizona teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Arizona follows the federal FLSA caps for 14-15-year-olds and imposes no state hour limit or time-of-day restriction on 16-17-year-olds. No state-issued work permit is required; employers verify age and keep records on file.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Arizona applies similar caps year-round, with small calendar adjustments shown below. Each age band below shows both calendars side-by-side — a distinction federal summaries and most state-comparison tables skip.
Ages 14–15
School year
When school is in session
- Hrs/day (school day)
- 3 hr
- Hrs/day (Sat / Sun / holiday)
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 18 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 19:00
Note: Mirrors federal FLSA caps. No work during school hours; combined school + work may not exceed 8 hours per day.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 40 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 21:00
Note: Summer hours (June 1 through Labor Day) extend evening cutoff to 9:00 PM.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Arizona imposes no state hour limit or time-of-day restriction on 16- and 17-year-olds; federal FLSA also has no hour cap for this age group in non-hazardous work.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Work permit
Arizona does not require a state-issued work permit for minors.
Arizona does not require a state-issued work permit. Employers must keep proof of age on file (driver's license, certified birth certificate, or state ID). The Industrial Commission of Arizona enforces child-labor rules through complaint and inspection.
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Arizona, with the federal hour caps and the state’s stricter rules built in.
Restricted occupations
All federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17
Federal: 29 CFR Part 570
Operating power-driven meat-processing machines
Federal: HO-10
Roofing operations and work on or about a roof
Federal: HO-16
Door-to-door sales for minors under 16 without bonded supervisor
State: A.R.S. §23-233
Sale or service of alcohol for minors under 19
State: A.R.S. §4-244
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Arizona hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Arizona-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Arizona has no verified state law requiring a meal or rest break for minors, so the federal floor applies: the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to give a meal or rest break at any age. An employer can legally schedule a teen for a full shift without one. If a short break of 5–20 minutes is given it must be paid; a bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Confirm with the Arizona Department of Labor before relying on a break, and see the federal breaks & meal-period reference for the FLSA paid-vs-unpaid rules.
Pay & minimum wage
Arizona sets its own minimum wage and minors generally earn the full rate — there is no general youth subminimum a teen can be paid. The structure is stable; the dollar amount changes almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Arizona Department of Labor.
- How minors are paid
- Full state minimum
- State minimum wage
- Set by state law
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Not permitted
A teen earns the full minimum; any lower rate needs a special DOL certificate.
Arizona's Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act sets one minimum for all covered employees with no age-based, learner, or training subminimum — a minor earns the same minimum as an adult. The only carve-outs are coverage exclusions in the definitions (a parent or sibling employer, casual babysitters, government, and small businesses under a revenue threshold that are also FLSA-exempt); a worker outside state coverage falls to the federal floor, but Arizona itself authorizes no youth subminimum.
Rates change yearly. This page describes the legal structure, not the current dollar amount. State and federal minimum wages are adjusted regularly — always verify the live figure with your state Department of Labor or the U.S. DOL before relying on it.
See the federal youth minimum wage reference for the $4.25 90-day rule, student / learner certificates, the tipped cash wage, and how a higher state minimum wins.
Statute: A.R.S. §§ 23-363, 23-362
Agricultural work carve-out
Arizona narrows the federal agricultural carve-out — the rules below override the federal floor when a minor works on a farm in this state.
Mirrors federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11.
Arizona sets the minimum age for off-family-farm agricultural work at 14 outside school hours and 16 during school hours (stricter than the federal '12-13 with parental consent' tier). The general state hour caps for minors under 16 (3 hours per school day, 8 hours per non-school day, 18 hours per school week, 40 hours per non-school week) apply to commercial agriculture, with the time-of-day window 6:00 AM to 9:30 PM (extended to 11:00 PM before non-school days). Arizona prohibits minors of any age from working inside an oxygen-deficient or toxic-atmosphere fruit or grain storage area, an upright silo, a manure pit, operating a tractor in a horizontal silo for packing purposes, and handling hazardous agricultural chemicals — these state-specific hazards layer on top of the federal Ag HO list. Family exemption is broad: Arizona exempts minors employed by a parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, first cousin, or stepparent who owns at least 10% of the business and is actively engaged in daily operations (provided the minor is not 15 or younger and engaged in manufacturing or mining) — wider than the federal § 213(c)(1)(C) parent-only exemption. No state employment certificate is required for agricultural work.
See the federal agricultural-work reference for the FLSA § 213(c) baseline, parental-exemption rules, and the Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 hazardous list.
Statute: A.R.S. §§ 23-230 to 23-242 (Youth Employment); 23-233 (hazardous occupations including farm operations)
Family-business carve-out
Arizona extends the federal parent-owned-business carve-out beyond the federal "parent only" rule — the rules below apply for family-owned non-agricultural businesses in this state.
Federal hazardous orders always apply — the parent-owned-business carve-out never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work.
Arizona's youth-employment statute at A.R.S. § 23-233 lists a substantially broader family carve-out than the federal floor. The exemption applies when (a) the qualifying relative owns at least 10% of the business, (b) the relative is actively engaged in daily operations, AND (c) the minor is not 15 or younger working in manufacturing or mining. For a 14-year-old working at a grandparent-owned coffee shop, an aunt-owned retail store, or a stepparent-owned service business in Arizona, no state work-permit is required (Arizona generally does not require state work permits for any minor employment regardless), no state hour caps apply under § 23-233's exemption, and no state time-of-day restrictions apply. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 always apply, as do Arizona's state-specific hazardous prohibitions for agricultural work under § 23-241 — the exemption never reaches mining or manufacturing for minors 15 or younger, or any HO-listed occupation.
See the federal family-business reference for the FLSA § 213(c)(1)(C) baseline, ownership-structure rules, and the hazardous-occupations overlay that always applies.
Statute: A.R.S. § 23-233 (exemptions, including broad family-relations exemption)
Entertainment-industry work
Arizona does not separately regulate child performers (film, TV, theater, modeling). The general age-band hour caps and work-permit rules above apply to entertainment-industry work for minors. Federal FLSA carves out actors and performers from the general 14-year minimum age (29 CFR § 570.122), but neither federal nor Arizona law imposes a blocked-trust requirement on a child performer’s earnings.
States with dedicated child-performer frameworks (Coogan-style trust accounts, on-set studio teachers, performer-specific permits) include California, New York, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Where these rules come from
State code: Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 23-230 to 23-242 (Youth Employment)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.azica.gov/labor-youth-employment-laws
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Arizona Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Arizona?
- Yes — under Arizona law a 14-year-old can work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 07:00 and 19:00.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Arizona?
- When school is in session, Arizona allows a 15-year-old to work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 07:00 and 19:00. During summer or school breaks the cap rises to up to 8 hours per school day, up to 40 hours per week, between 07:00 and 21:00.
- Does Arizona require a work permit for minors?
- Arizona does not require a state-issued work permit for minors. Employers still must follow federal FLSA rules on hour caps and restricted occupations.
- Can a teen be paid less than minimum wage in Arizona?
- Generally no. Arizona sets its own minimum wage and minors earn the full rate — there is no general youth subminimum, and any below-minimum rate requires a special DOL certificate. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Arizona Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Arizona?
- Arizona prohibits minors from a number of hazardous occupations, including: all federal hazardous orders ho-1 through ho-17; operating power-driven meat-processing machines; roofing operations and work on or about a roof. The full list of federal hazardous orders (HO-1 through HO-17) also applies. See the Arizona Revised Statutes §§ 23-230 to 23-242 (Youth Employment) citation on this page for the statutory source.