How Old Do You Have to Be to Work at a Gas Station?

Under federal law, you have to be at least 14 years old to work at a gas station, and what you’re allowed to do on the job depends on your exact age. A 14-year-old can pump gas, run a register, and clean the store. A 16-year-old can do most of that plus operate the car wash. At 18, nearly every restriction disappears. The hours you can work and the products you can sell follow the same age-tiered pattern.

Starting at 14 or 15

The Fair Labor Standards Act specifically permits 14- and 15-year-olds to dispense gasoline and oil, wash windows, check fluid levels, and clean or polish cars by hand.¹ Cashier work, stocking shelves, and cleaning the interior are also generally allowed.

The prohibited list is where employers get in trouble. At 14 or 15, you cannot use pits, racks, or lifting equipment. You cannot inflate any tire mounted on a rim with a removable retaining ring. You cannot operate or maintain automatic car wash equipment.² You also cannot run any power-driven machinery, which rules out trash compactors, commercial slicers, and industrial cleaning equipment.³

At 16 and 17

Once you turn 16, federal law lets you take any job that hasn’t been declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor, and it drops the federal cap on hours entirely.³ Most gas station duties open up at this point, including operating the automatic car wash and using cleaning equipment.

A few hazardous-occupation restrictions remain until 18. Workers under 18 cannot drive on public roads as part of the job, though a narrow exception lets 17-year-olds drive cars or small trucks during daylight hours in strictly limited circumstances.³ Forklifts, power-driven hoisting equipment, and certain other heavy machinery are also off-limits. If the station has a service bay, some repair tasks remain restricted until 18.

Hours You Can Workh2>

If you’re 14 or 15, federal law caps both when and how long you can work. During the school year, you’re limited to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours total in a school week. When school is out, that rises to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Shifts have to fall between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when the evening cutoff extends to 9 p.m.³

Federal law puts no hour restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds. Many states do. California blocks 16- and 17-year-olds from working between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on school nights; New Jersey stops them from working past 11 p.m. during the school term.⁴ When the state rule is stricter, the state rule wins.³

Selling Tobacco, Alcohol, and Lottery Tickets

A modern gas station is really a convenience store, and a lot of what it sells is age-restricted. That raises a separate question from your age: how old the cashier has to be to ring up the sale.

Tobacco

Federal law makes it illegal to sell any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under 21, with no exceptions.⁵ But Tobacco 21 addresses the buyer’s age, not the seller’s. Whether a 16-year-old cashier can process a tobacco sale for an adult customer comes down to state law. Most states set the seller’s minimum at 18, but the rule varies.

Alcohol

Alcohol sales are almost entirely a state-law question when it comes to the employee’s age. There’s no federal minimum age for the person behind the counter. Some states require sellers to be 21, others allow 18, and a few permit employees as young as 15 to sell beer in certain settings with a supervisor present.⁶ Rules also often differ between beer, wine, and spirits. Check your state’s alcohol control board before assuming.

Lottery Tickets

Lottery sales are governed by each state that runs a lottery. Most set a minimum age for the buyer and many also set one for the seller. There’s no federal answer.

Work Permits and I-9 Paperwork

Before you start, most states require a work permit or employment certificate for minors. These are usually issued by your school district or state labor department and involve proof of age, a parent or guardian signature, and sometimes a fitness statement.⁷ Some states require permits for anyone under 18; others only for workers under 16.

Every employee, regardless of age, also has to complete a Form I-9. If you’re under 18 and don’t have a driver’s license or state ID, you can establish identity with a school record, report card, or clinic record.⁸ An employer who insists you need a driver’s license to be hired is wrong.

Pay

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but the FLSA lets employers pay new hires under 20 a youth rate of $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job.⁹ That 90-day count runs on calendar days, not days worked, so even a weekends-only schedule uses up the discount fast. When you hit day 91 or turn 20, whichever comes first, your pay has to rise to at least the full minimum.

Many states set their own minimum wage above $7.25, and some don’t allow a youth sub-minimum at all.¹⁰ In those states, the higher state rate applies from your first shift.

If Your Employer Breaks the Rules

Federal child labor penalties are real. The Department of Labor can fine an employer up to $16,035 per affected worker for a standard violation. When a violation causes a minor to suffer a serious injury or death, the penalty rises to $72,876, and doubles when the violation was willful or repeated.¹¹

Employers also have to keep detailed records for any worker under 19, including date of birth and daily and weekly hours.¹² If your manager isn’t tracking your hours carefully, treat it as a warning sign. Sloppy recordkeeping usually travels with sloppy compliance on the rules that actually protect you.

1
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
2
Department of Labor (DOL). Child Labor: FLSA – Field Operations Handbook (FOH) Chapter 33
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Nonagricultural Occupations
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment as of July 15, 2025
5
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Tobacco 21
6
APIS – Alcohol Policy Information System. Minimum Ages for Off-Premises Sellers
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). List B Documents That Establish Identity
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
10
U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws
11
eCFR. Part 579 Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)