Alabama Employee Handbook Requirements (2026)

Alabama's Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act (HB 56, codified at Ala. Code 31-13-9) went further than almost any other state: effective April 1, 2012, every employer in Alabama must verify employment eligibility using either the federal E-Verify system or by requiring the same documentation required on the I-9 form.

This is not limited to government contractors, not limited to large employers, and not optional. Alabama is one of a handful of states that mandates E-Verify (or equivalent verification) for all private employers regardless of size or industry.

The penalties for noncompliance are severe:

• First offense: Business license suspended for up to 60 days
• Second offense: Business license permanently revoked
• Debarment from state government contracts
• Cancellation of state grants and economic incentives

Businesses that enroll in and use E-Verify gain an important safe harbor: they are immune from liability for unknowingly employing an unauthorized worker, provided they used E-Verify in good faith.

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security maintains an E-Verify employer service to assist employers with 25 or fewer employees in enrollment and compliance.

The fix: Register at e-verify.gov if you haven't already. Run every new hire through E-Verify within 3 business days of their start date. Keep records of all verifications. Train your HR team and anyone involved in onboarding that this is not optional in Alabama.

Sources: Ala. Code 31-13-9; HB 56 (Beason-Hammon Act); Alabama DHS E-Verify Portal.

Alabama Code Section 13A-11-90 limits how much control employers have over firearms on their own property. While employers can prohibit employees from carrying firearms inside the workplace, they cannot prohibit the transportation or storage of a lawfully possessed firearm in an employee's personal vehicle in the parking area.

The specific requirements for pistols:

• In an attended vehicle, the firearm must be kept from ordinary observation
• In an unattended vehicle, the firearm must be locked within a compartment, container, or the vehicle interior, or in a container securely affixed to the vehicle

For hunting firearms (other than pistols), the employee must have a valid Alabama hunting license, keep the weapon unloaded at all times on the property, and it must be during a permitted hunting season.

The employee protection is explicit: if an employer discovers that an employee is storing a firearm in their private vehicle in compliance with these rules, the employer cannot take adverse employment action against that employee.

Many employers from states without these "parking lot" gun laws are caught off guard. A blanket "no weapons on company property" policy that extends to employee vehicles in the parking lot violates Alabama law unless it's carefully drafted to exclude lawfully stored firearms in personal vehicles.

The fix: Review your weapons policy. You can prohibit firearms inside the workplace, but you cannot prohibit lawfully stored firearms in employees' locked personal vehicles in your parking area. Draft your policy to reflect this distinction. If your company has multi-state operations, Alabama's parking lot law may require a state-specific addendum.

Sources: Ala. Code 13A-11-90; Alabama Gun Law Analysis (Christian Small LLP).

Alabama is one of five states (along with Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee) that has no state minimum wage law. The federal FLSA minimum of $7.25 per hour is the only wage floor for covered employers.

In 2016, the city of Birmingham passed an ordinance raising its local minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. The Alabama state legislature responded with Act 2016-18, which preempts any local government in the state from establishing a minimum wage higher than the federal rate. That preemption law is still in effect.

The confusion this creates:

• Employers who think there's no minimum wage. The absence of a state law does not mean you can pay whatever you want. Every employer covered by the FLSA (which includes virtually any business with $500,000 or more in annual revenue or employees involved in interstate commerce) must pay at least $7.25.
• Employers who don't understand FLSA coverage. If your employees use the internet, process credit cards, handle goods that crossed state lines, or communicate with anyone outside Alabama, you're almost certainly covered by FLSA. The universe of truly exempt employers is tiny.
• No state enforcement mechanism. Because Alabama has no state wage law, minimum wage complaints go directly to the federal DOL Wage and Hour Division. There is no state-level investigator. This means enforcement can feel invisible until an audit or complaint arrives.

The U.S. Department of Labor recovered millions in back wages from Alabama employers in recent fiscal years for FLSA violations including minimum wage and overtime failures.

The fix: Put the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour in your handbook, not "no state minimum." Make sure all employees, including tipped workers, are earning at least $7.25 when tips are factored in. Track wages carefully for piece-rate and commission workers to ensure they meet the floor.

Sources: 29 U.S.C. 206 (FLSA minimum wage); Act 2016-18 (Alabama local wage preemption); Alabama Dept. of Labor, Wage and Hour Information.

Alabama has no state family and medical leave act, no state paid sick leave mandate, no state anti-discrimination statute covering private employers broadly, and no state disability leave requirement. For HR professionals coming from heavily regulated states, this feels like a relief. It is actually a compliance trap.

Because Alabama layers almost nothing on top of federal law, employers who only look at state requirements will miss the federal obligations that drive the majority of their compliance risk:

• FMLA (50+ employees): 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. You need a written policy, proper notice procedures, and a system for tracking intermittent leave.
• Title VII (15+ employees): Anti-discrimination protections covering race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Written policies, complaint procedures, and consistent investigation processes are required.
• ADA (15+ employees): Disability accommodation requirements, including modified schedules, reassignment, and leave beyond FMLA when needed as a reasonable accommodation.
• USERRA (all employers): Military leave and reemployment rights. No size threshold.
• PWFA (15+ employees): Pregnancy accommodation requirements effective since June 2023, including modified duties, additional breaks, and temporary leave.

The EEOC's Birmingham District Office, which covers Alabama, processes thousands of charges annually. Disability discrimination, retaliation, and sex discrimination are consistently the top charge categories. Employers without written policies have weaker defenses in every case.

The fix: Don't let Alabama's light state requirements lull you into skipping federal compliance. Build FMLA, ADA, Title VII, USERRA, and PWFA policies into your handbook even though Alabama doesn't add state equivalents. These federal obligations are your actual compliance framework, and a handbook is your first line of defense.

Sources: 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. (FMLA); 42 U.S.C. 2000e (Title VII); 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq. (ADA); 42 U.S.C. 2000ff (PWFA); EEOC Birmingham District Office enforcement data.