Arkansas Child Labor Law Repealed: Hour Limits, Hazards, Penalties

Arkansas child labor law changed in 2023 when the Youth Hiring Act (Act 195) ended the requirement that minors under 16 get a state-issued work permit before starting a job. That is the only major thing that changed. Every state hour limit, every list of prohibited occupations, every federal Fair Labor Standards Act rule, and the state’s minimum wage all still apply, and a companion law passed the same session raised the penalties for getting it wrong.

What the 2023 Repeal Actually Changed

Before Act 195, an employer hiring a 14- or 15-year-old had to obtain an employment certificate from the Arkansas Division of Labor confirming the child’s age and parental consent. That step is gone. Businesses can now hire minors under 16 without filing anything with the state first.¹

What did not change is enforcement. The Division of Labor’s own guidance states that “all state and federal laws regarding work activities and hours will remain in effect and will be enforced.”¹ The screening the state used to do at hiring now falls on employers and parents. If a child ends up in the wrong job or on the wrong schedule, the state still investigates, still cites, and still fines.

One narrow exception survived the repeal. Children 16 and under working in the entertainment industry still need an entertainment work permit issued by the Director of the Division of Labor.¹

Verifying a Minor’s Age Is Still Worth Doing

Even without the state certificate requirement, employers have a strong reason to document a young worker’s age. Federal regulations give employers a defense against “oppressive child labor” claims when they have a valid age certificate on file. Without one, an employer who unknowingly hires a child too young for the job has no shield.²

Federal guidance suggests getting an age certificate any time a minor claims to be only one or two years above the minimum age for the job, and any time a worker’s physical appearance suggests they may be younger than claimed.² Age certificates can be issued through the federal Wage and Hour Division or through a state agency designated by the Administrator. Keeping copies of a birth certificate, passport, or state-issued ID showing the date of birth builds the same paper trail.

Hour Limits for Minors Under 16

Arkansas and federal law both cap how many hours a young worker can put in, and they don’t match. When they conflict, the stricter rule controls.³

Arkansas Limits

Under state law, children under 16 cannot work more than 48 hours in a week, more than eight hours in a day, or more than six days in a week. Shifts cannot start before 6:00 a.m. or run past 7:00 p.m., though Arkansas allows work until 9:00 p.m. on nights before a non-school day.³

Sixteen-year-olds get a separate Arkansas rule: no more than 10 hours of work in any 24-hour period. If the teen doesn’t get at least a 10-hour rest break between shifts, the state measures compliance across any rolling 24-hour window rather than calendar days.¹

Federal Limits That Usually Override

For 14- and 15-year-olds, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is much tighter than Arkansas: three hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, eight hours on a non-school day, and 40 hours in a non-school week. Federal nightwork ends at 7:00 p.m. during the school year and extends to 9:00 p.m. only between June 1 and Labor Day.³

An employer who schedules a 14-year-old for 30 hours in a school week is within Arkansas’s 48-hour cap and still in violation of federal law. The safe default is to apply the lower number in every case.

Jobs Minors Cannot Do

Federal Hazardous Occupations

The U.S. Department of Labor has declared 17 categories of work off-limits to anyone under 18, including manufacturing or storing explosives, roofing, operating power-driven woodworking or metal-forming machines, logging and sawmill work, and demolition.⁴⁵ Exposure to radioactive substances is also prohibited.⁶

For 14- and 15-year-olds specifically, federal rules go further. This age group cannot perform any part of the baking process, operate ovens of any kind (including commercial microwaves), or use power-driven food slicers, grinders, or mixers.⁷

Driving on the Job

A 17-year-old with a driver’s license can drive for work only during daylight hours, in a vehicle under 6,000 pounds, with no more than three passengers. The driving must be occasional and incidental to the job, limited to one-third of the workday or 20 percent of weekly hours. Route deliveries, time-sensitive deliveries like pizza or bank deposits, and trips beyond a 30-mile radius are all prohibited.⁸ Workers under 17 cannot drive for work at all.

Arkansas Prohibitions for Children Under 16

The state’s own list covers work involving dangerous chemicals or gases, mining, quarrying, operating circular or band saws, motor vehicle operation, slaughtering, and food processing equipment such as power-driven slicers and grinders.¹

Alcohol

Arkansas prohibits anyone under 21 from selling, transporting, or handling alcoholic beverages for a wholesaler, retailer, or transporter. Workers 19 and older may sell and handle alcohol at restaurants, hotels, and private clubs licensed for on-premises consumption. Workers 18 and older can be employed as musicians or entertainers at establishments serving alcohol, or work in food preparation and housekeeping there. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds can work at retail grocery stores that sell alcohol but cannot handle the alcohol themselves.⁹

What to Pay a Young Worker

Arkansas’s minimum wage is $11.00 per hour, higher than the federal $7.25.¹⁰ Federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 a reduced $4.25 per hour for their first 90 consecutive calendar days, but where the state minimum is higher and has no youth exception, the state rate wins.¹¹

Arkansas allows employers to apply for a certificate to pay certain minors less than the standard minimum, but only with Department of Labor approval.¹ An employer can’t simply default to the federal $4.25 rate. Paying a minor less than $11.00 per hour without a state certificate is a wage violation.

Federal law also blocks employers from firing or cutting hours for existing employees in order to replace them with youth-wage workers. That’s an independent FLSA violation.¹¹

Penalties Went Up in 2023

Act 687 of 2023, signed alongside the Youth Hiring Act, raised state civil penalties for child labor violations to between $100 and $5,000 per violation, up from the previous range of $50 to $1,000. The lookback period for assessing civil penalties went from two years to three.¹²

Act 687 also created criminal penalties where none existed before. Knowing violations are now misdemeanors, and repeat offenders can face felony charges.¹ The state made it easier to hire young workers and more expensive to hire them incorrectly, in the same session.

Federal penalties are higher still. As of the January 15, 2025 inflation adjustment:

Standard child labor violation: up to $16,035 per child per violation¹³
Violation causing serious injury or death: up to $72,876¹³
Willful or repeated violation causing serious injury or death: up to $145,752¹³

Each violation is assessed separately, so an employer who breaks multiple rules regarding a single minor faces multiple fines. Three violations involving one child mean three separate penalties.¹⁴ Willful or repeated violations can also lead to criminal prosecution and restrictions on government contracts.

What Employers Should Keep on File

With the state no longer vetting each hire at the front end, employers carry the full documentation burden. The Division of Labor’s guidance is that employers must comply with the most restrictive applicable standard, whether that comes from state or federal law.¹

For every minor on the payroll, keep the date of birth with supporting documentation, scheduled and actual hours worked, job duties assigned, and wages paid. State labor investigators can inspect workplaces and review these records at any time.

The most common failures aren’t hazardous-work violations. They’re scheduling mistakes: an extra hour on a school night, a few too many hours in a school week. The fines per incident are smaller than the ones for putting a teen on a rooftop, but they add up quickly when assessed per child. Employers with any real number of young workers should build the federal hour limits directly into their scheduling software rather than rely on managers to remember which cap applies to which day.

1
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Child Labor
2
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.5 – Certificates of Age and Their Effect
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Prohibited Occupations for Non-Agricultural Employees
5
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.66 – Occupations Involved in Wrecking, Demolition, and Shipbreaking Operations
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Hazardous Occupations – elaws – FLSA – Child Labor Rules
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 58 – Cooking and Baking Under the Federal Child Labor Provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2
9
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 3-3-204 – Handling by Minor
10
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Minimum Wage and Overtime
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
12
Arkansas State Legislature. Act 687 of the Regular Session
13
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2023-4 – Child Labor Civil Money Penalty Assessments