At What Age Can You Get a Job in Arkansas: Limits, Permits, Pay

In Arkansas, you can get a job starting at age 14, and the rules loosen in steps as you get older: 14 and 15-year-olds face the tightest limits on hours and job types, 16-year-olds can work longer shifts and later at night, 17-year-olds have no state-level hour restrictions at all, and most remaining federal rules disappear at 18. A handful of jobs allow younger children, and some hazardous work stays off-limits until adulthood no matter what.

Working Before Age 14

A few narrow categories allow children younger than 14 to work. Newspaper carriers and children performing in entertainment under a state-issued permit can be under 14. Children of any age may also work in a business entirely owned by their parents, as long as the work is not hazardous and does not involve mining or manufacturing.¹ Babysitting in a private home is also outside the standard rules. Outside these exceptions, 14 is the floor.²

Rules for 14 and 15-Year-Olds

At 14, most Arkansas teens can take their first regular job. Since 2023, Arkansas no longer requires employers to get a general work permit before hiring a 14 or 15-year-old. Act 195 eliminated that step. All other child labor protections still apply.²

Hours are capped tightly for this age group. When school is in session, you cannot work more than three hours on a school day or more than 18 hours in a school week. When school is out, those limits rise to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.³

Time-of-day limits combine federal and state rules, and the stricter rule always wins. Federal law bars work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m., with the evening cutoff extended to 9:00 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.³ Arkansas allows work until 9:00 p.m. on any night before a non-school day.² Both conditions have to line up for a 9:00 p.m. shift to be legal: it must be between June 1 and Labor Day, and the next day cannot be a school day.

The jobs this age group can do are broader than many teens expect. Allowed work includes:

Retail tasks like cashiering, stocking, price-marking, and packing
Food service work including reheating food, dishwashing, cleaning, and limited cooking
Office work, tutoring, computer programming, and performing arts
Errands and deliveries on foot, by bicycle, or by public transportation
Yard work with hand tools (no power-driven mowers, trimmers, or edgers)
Dispensing gas or oil and hand-washing cars
Lifeguarding at traditional pools and water parks, for certified 15-year-olds

Manufacturing, mining, construction, and anything involving power-driven equipment are off-limits.³

Rules for 16-Year-Olds

At 16, Arkansas opens up a much wider range of jobs and longer shifts, though state limits still apply. A 16-year-old cannot work more than 54 hours in a week, more than ten consecutive hours in a day, more than ten hours in any 24-hour period, or more than six days in a week.²

Nighttime rules split by the school calendar. On a night before a school day, a 16-year-old cannot work before 6:00 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m. On a night before a non-school day, work can continue until midnight.²

Arkansas does allow 16-year-olds to work between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on non-school-day nights, but only in certain settings. Overnight work is prohibited in convenience stores and retail shops smaller than 4,500 square feet, most restaurants (unless only a drive-through window is open), businesses that serve alcohol, truck stops, service stations, gambling establishments, and any job without direct supervision by an adult at least 21 years old. Delivery jobs and security guard positions are also off-limits during those hours.² A 16-year-old stocking shelves overnight at a large retailer can be legal; the same teen behind a gas station register at 2:00 a.m. is not.

What Changes at 17

Arkansas sets no state hour or scheduling limits for 17-year-old workers.⁴ A 17-year-old can work overnight, exceed 54 hours in a week, and take the same schedule as adult coworkers. The only remaining constraints come from federal hazardous occupation rules, which apply to everyone under 18.

Jobs That Stay Off-Limits Until 18

Federal law identifies 17 categories of work considered too dangerous for anyone under 18. Parental consent does not override these rules. Common prohibited work includes:

The full list also reaches wrecking and demolition, certain bakery equipment, and exposure to extreme heat or industrial chemicals.

Driving for Work

No one under 17 may drive a motor vehicle on public roads as part of a job. No one under 18 may ride outside the cab as a helper on deliveries.⁸

A 17-year-old can drive for work only if every one of these conditions is met: the driving happens in daylight, the teen has a valid state license for the vehicle, the teen completed a state-approved driver’s education course and had no moving violations at hire, the vehicle weighs 6,000 pounds or less, seat belts are installed and required, and the driving is occasional and incidental, meaning no more than one-third of the workday or 20 percent of weekly hours.⁸

Even then, a 17-year-old cannot make route deliveries, carry passengers for hire, handle urgent or time-sensitive deliveries, tow vehicles, or drive more than 30 miles from the workplace.⁸ For most delivery driver jobs, that means waiting until 18.

What You Get Paid

Arkansas’s minimum wage is $11.00 per hour, and teen workers earn it just like adults.⁹ Federal law separately allows a youth wage of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 calendar days on the job, but because Arkansas’s minimum is higher, employers generally have to pay the state rate.¹⁰

Work Permits in Arkansas

General work permits for 14 and 15-year-olds were eliminated in 2023, so most teens no longer need any paperwork before starting a job.² Entertainment work is the exception. Any child working in the entertainment industry still needs a permit issued by the Director of the Division of Labor before starting, and no permit can be issued for a child younger than 15 days old.¹¹

The entertainment permit application requires proof of age, written parental consent, a statement from the child’s school on academic standing and attendance, and a written description from the employer covering dates, hours, and pay. Children under six also need a doctor’s statement confirming they are healthy enough to perform the work. Permits last up to six months and must be renewed through the same process.¹¹

Agricultural work follows a separate federal framework that is less restrictive than the rules above, with lower minimum ages for farm jobs and almost no federal limits for children working on a family farm.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
2
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Child Labor
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs – 14-15
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
5
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
6
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.67 – Occupations in Roofing Operations and on or About a Roof (Order 16)
7
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.68 – Occupations in Excavation Operations (Order 17)
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2
9
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Minimum Wage and Overtime
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Subminimum Wage
11
Legal Information Institute. 010.14.18 Ark. Code R. 001 – Amendments to the Child Labor Rules