• Alabama's Department of Labor mandates a certain level of hourly pay for workers.laborer resting image by Joy Fera from Fotolia.com
  
  Alabama's Department of Labor enforces the state's labor laws. Wages, safety and health in the workplace and union membership are some of the issues that fall under the department's supervision. In some instances the state yields to federal labor law, while collective bargaining agreements and other employment contracts take precedence as well.
  
  

Wages

• As of 2010, Alabama has established the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour as the state's minimum wage. An employer must pay an employee for all the time the employee works. The Department of Labor will intervene on behalf of employees who do not receive pay for time they have worked.
  
  

Hiring and Firing

• As an employment-at-will state, Alabama imposes no standards for hiring and firing employees. An employer may fire an employee at any time and without notice unless the employee has a contract, and need not provide a reason. A firing is unlawful if the employer discriminates on the basis of race, gender, age, religious beliefs, nationality or disability.
  
  

Paid Time Off

• The Department of Labor enforces no laws regarding vacation pay and sick leave. It considers these fringe benefits that the employer may choose whether to offer. It requires the employer to provide these benefits only if a company handbook establishes a policy of offering them.
  
  

Workplace Safety

• The department requires employers to take reasonable steps to provide a safe working environment for employees. Such steps include providing safety devices and training employees in how to use them, as well as implementing workplace rules and regulations that promote safety. Employers who own the building in which their employees work must take all reasonable steps to maintain the building in a way that keeps it safe.
  
  

Right to Work

• Employers may not make hiring or firing decisions on the basis of an employee's membership or non-membership in a union or other labor organization. Employees have a right to join a labor union at any time, but neither their employer nor union heads may force them to join one.
  
  

Jury Duty

• Employers must excuse employees for jury duty if the employee presents a summons, and must pay employees their usual wages for the time they miss while serving as a juror. The employer may subtract wages in the amount of any compensation the employee receives from the state for serving as a juror. An employer may never terminate an employee's job for missing time because of jury duty.
  
  

Child Labor Restrictions

• Minors must be at least 14 to work in any job in Alabama. Minors who are 15 or 16 may not work more than three hours after school, and not more than eight hours daily during the summer. The department bans minors who are under age 18 from certain dangerous jobs such as those that involve mine work, scaffolding, the operation of heavy machinery and more. Employees must be 21 to serve alcohol, and 18 to work in an area in which others serve alcohol.
  
  

Break Laws for Minors

• For employees who are age 14 or 15, employers must provide a break period of 30 minutes or longer for every five hours that the employee works. The employer does not have to provide breaks for employees who are 16 and older.