Overview of Arizona Minor Labor Laws
The purpose of Arizona minor labor laws is to protect the health, safety and welfare of minors in the state. These laws set forth regulations that employers must follow when hiring minor employees. For instance, there are certain jobs that minors are not allowed to perform because they would be too dangerous for them, but the laws also do not place caps on hours worked or wages earned. When these laws are violated, there can be serious consequences for both the minors and the employers. Children represented 14 percent of the workers injured on the job in Arizona between 2011 and 2015, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
Some of the child labor laws may be confusing, so it’s important both for prospective employees and employers in Arizona to understand the intricacies. Prior to April 1 , 2013, there were four different types of student permits that a minor could possess, including for career exploration, minor work, full-time minor work and full-time student withdrawn. Arizona passed a bill in 2011 that consolidated the various permit forms into one, called the Student Work Permit. This is the only form minors can possess in order to work. Minors under the age of 14 cannot legally work, with the exception of some structured and supervised activities, such as working at home or doing unpaid community service. The permits are obtained by working with employers, school administrators, the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), and if needed, the state Department of Health Services. These requirements are designed to create a safer environment for minors in their employment positions.
Age Restrictions and Work Permits
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has certain requirements for the employment of youth. Arizona state regulations provide additional restrictions. Most importantly:
• Minors under age 14 are prohibited from working.
• Minors aged 14 and 15 may work only certain types of jobs.
• Minors aged 16 and 17 may work all jobs except those involving work in mines, excavation, logging, operation of power-driven hoisting equipment, operation of power-driven bakery machines, operation of power-driven hoisting apparatus other than elevators, operation of power-driven patient lifts, driving a motor vehicle, and certain work in warehouses.
Child labor laws are designed to protect young employees from working injury, exploitation, and slavery. FLSA and Arizona State laws also protect employers by standardizing acceptable jobs for minors based on the potential for physical and mental harm. While most jobs may require a work permit, those for youth aged 16 and older do not require one. In order to get a work permit, the minor must provide proof of age. This proof can be either a:
• copy of a birth certificate
• copy of a baptismal certificate
• or other proof that is deemed acceptable. Employers may also ask for a certificate giving information about the minor’s legal work age. The Department of Labor issues work permits for each individual high school where the student is enrolled full time. Forms are available online. The minor must get it signed by the employer after it is filled out. After the employer signs, the student must have the principal or authorized representative from the school sign it as well. The work permit must be completed within 30 days of the employment start date. A work permit expires if the minor switches schools, when the minor graduates or leaves school for a reason other than graduation, or upon his 18th birthday.
Permissible Work Hours for Minors
According to Arizona Revised Statutes Section 23-233, there are specific stipulations as to when minors are permitted to work. These rules differ depending on whether the minor is employed in the manufacturing, mining or processing industry, or in commerce, transportation or other employment, which we will explain below.
Arizona Minor Rules When Employed In Manufacturing, Mining Or Processing:
If working as a minor in manufacturing, mining or processing, then the following restrictions apply.
- During the school year, they cannot work either before 5 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
- On days that they work when there is no school, they cannot work before 5 a.m. or after 11 p.m.
- On non-school days, when there is no school, they cannot work before 5 a.m., and also can’t work after 11 p.m.
- During summer vacancy they cannot work before 6 a.m., or 9 p.m.
- The only 4-month exception to this summer vacancy employment rule occurs with either a high school graduating class — the day after graduation or June 1, whichever happens first — until one week before the start of school.
- Additional exceptions include assisting in a non-hazardous occupation at home, or those who are foreign exchange students.
Arizona Minor Rules When Employed In Commerce, Transportation Or Other Employment:
If working as a minor in commerce, transportation or other employment, then the following restrictions apply.
- During the school year, they cannot work before 5 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
- On days that they work when there is no school, they cannot work before 5 a.m. or after 9:30 p.m.
- During the summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day, they cannot work before 6 a.m. or after 9:30 p.m.
- Exception to these rules includes a minor who is 16 and is a full-time student who can work until 11:30 p.m. on any school day, and they can also work for six specific hours on any school day throughout the year.
Types of Jobs Allowed for Minors
The general rule in Arizona is that all occupations are acceptable for minors, except for a few exceptions. For example, hazardous jobs in non-industrial or non-manufacturing settings are mostly outlawed for individuals under the age of 16. The factors that limit youth are encapsulated in ARS 23-233 (the Labor Code), which prevents youth from undertaking occupations that they could not undertake by themselves.
Children are not allowed to work in the following occupations:
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Operating power-driven hoisting or woodworking equipment
• Operating power-driven bakery machine
• Manufacturing brick, tile, and kindred products
• Operating power-driven paper products machines
• Demolition, excavation, or trenching
• Tunneling, including driving a tunnel or shaft through rock
• Underground working
• Roofing, except on a ladder-type or extension type, provided the weight to be handed on the roof does not exceed fifteen pounds
• Washing or hand polishing glassware in or about a glass manufacturing
• Manufacturing ice
• Slaughtering, packing, processing, freezing, curing, canning, or otherwise preparing foods
• Operating power-driven meat processing or rendering equipment
• Sawmills or planning mills
• Cabling or stringing wire on power transmission towers, except for the purpose of maintaining existing electrical service, while not elevated above ground level
• Stacking lumber or other material in sawmills or planning mills, except for the purpose of maintaining existing electrical service, while not elevated above ground level
• Any occupations in slaughtering, meat packing, etc., meat processing, rendering, or treating by freezing while not paid by the hour.
In addition to the already-exceptional tasks already mentioned, the U.S. Department of Labor, through the U.S. Department of Labor Child Labor Bulletin 101, has established minimum age requirements and restricted activities for youths under the age of 18.
Basically, employers should keep in mind that:
Employers are also prohibited from having youth do the following types of work:
• Working with explosives or flammable liquids, or around steam or high pressure
• Operating a boiler with a capacity of more than 15 pounds per square inch
• Employment near the circus, billboard or overhead signs
• Regulating automobile traffic
• Stacking lumber that is more than 1/4 of an inch thick
• Using a jack with more than a one-to-one mechanical advantage
• Operating a wrecker, winch or crane
• Being outside for more than 3 hours a day
• Maintaining, setting-up operating, cleaning or adjusting an electric-powered walkout pit
• Being more than 10 feet off the ground
• Working from a movable object higher than 7 feet
• Use coating in excess of 1 percent benzene, carbon tetrachloride, or trichloroethylene
• Regulating automobile traffic
• Working in an excavation of more than 5 feet unless the side is sloped or shored
• Working with moving belt system, elevator or freight area
• Working with hazardous equipment, or working with hot, toxic, poisonous, or carbamic, inhalants
In the end, it is important to keep in mind that if a youth are responsible for more than $30 worth of goods, the employer will be responsible for paying for a general liability insurance policy that is no less than $100,000 and no more than $300,000.
Wage Standards for Minor Workers
For purposes of Arizona labor laws concerning the payment of wages to minors, there is no minimum wage. That said, employers may establish a training wage that is less than minimum wage as long as it does not drop below those wages set forth in 29 C.F.R., § 519.4.
There are a number of exceptions to the wage standards above. For instance, minors serving food and drinks purchased by customers in restaurants, soda fountains, drive-in theaters or other similar places may be paid 85 percent of the federal minimum wage, as long as they receive tips and certain other requirements are met. A minor under the age of 18 may also be paid according to the minimum wage for restaurant workers if the existence of a tip credit is not conditioned on his or her being permitted to take part in beverage service, or if his or her employment duties do not involve the service of food in any form.
Minors who are involved in the practice of agriculture must be paid at least the federal minimum wage; however , Arizona labor laws concerning farm labor do not apply to minors performing agricultural work with a parent or a guardian, as long as that agricultural work occurs on the same farm where such individuals reside. A 70 percent wage standard also applies to minors involved in the operation of an agricultural enterprise, except when the wages are paid by a customer of the agricultural enterprise, or when they are paid out of the gross earnings of an agricultural enterprise that is owned by a person other than a family member. There are similar exceptions to this lower wage standard concerning minors who work on projects established or funded by the U.S. Department of Labor or federal agricultural cooperatives.
Employers may not enter into any state or federal contracts unless they comply with minimum wage statutes and regulations concerning minors. Such contracts must contain a promise of labor standards compliance. Civil sanctions may be levied against employers who violate these laws.
Enforcement and Penalties for Violations
The law provides for enforcement and, on occasion, prosecution of violations of the Arizona laws regulating the employment of minors. Both civil and criminal penalties may result.
Civil Penalties
An employer may be assessed a civil penalty by the Arizona Industrial Commission for violations of the laws regulating employment of minors, such as:
An employer shall be assessed a civil penalty of $500 per violation for hiring or permitting a minor to work in violation of the foregoing restrictions. Likewise, an employer who is found to have committed an illegal "act or practice" with respect to a minor employee may be liable to that employee for damages and also for reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs awarded under Rule 54(g), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure.
Criminal Penalties
For more serious violations, prosecution may be sought on a criminal basis. Specifically, A.R.S. §23-236 states:
A. An employer or his representative who knowingly permits a minor to work during prohibited employment hours or in violating occupations or processes, except as provided by this article, is guilty of a petty offense for a first violation. Upon a second or subsequent conviction he is guilty of a class 6 felony.
B. Any person other than the employer or his representative who knowingly employs or permits a minor to work herein in violation of this article is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.
Also, A.R.S. §13-209 provides, "In any prosecution for a violation of any federal or state law, ordinance or regulation deemed necessary for the protection of persons from injury or for the protection of the public health or safety, it is a defense that the defendant acted in good faith under a written interpretation, exemption, determination or approval issued by the director of the department of economic security or the director’s designee." This law may be invoked by employers facing criminal prosecution for a violation of the laws regulating the employment of minors.
Common Violations
Among common violations that can result in civil and/or internal penalties are the following:
Resources for Minors and Employers
Several government agencies are responsible for enforcing the state and federal laws concerning minors in the workplace. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the Federal Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions, The Arizona Industrial Commission receives both phone calls and written complaints concerning child labor violations related to working hours, wages and hazardous occupations. Any alleged violation related to wages, benefits or overtime pay is investigated by the Labor Standards Office of the Industrial Commission. Individuals may file a complaint against their employer on the complaint form that can be found on the Industrial Commission’s website.
The U.S. DOL has a number of resources available for minors and employers. The Wage and Hour Division provides an online Child Labor Reguations Application for Minors Online (CRAMO) tool that provides information regarding age requirements for particular types of work , and lists permissible occupations for minors under federal law. The U.S. DOL also provides fact sheets for both employers and employees. The Fact Sheet for Employers can be found here; for Employees, here.
The Arizona Industrial Commission’s Labor Standards Section provides a list of information, forms and applications, and links to documents relevant to both employers and workers in Arizona. These valuable resources can be found here.