Chick-fil-A hiring age: how old do you have to be to work there?

What Chick-fil-A says about age

Chick-fil-A's careers help page answers the age question directly (read October 2, 2026): hiring decisions are made by individual franchised Operators, and you should reach out to the hiring team at the restaurant you want, to learn its qualifications and minimum age.

So there is no company-wide Chick-fil-A hiring age. Two restaurants in the same town can have different minimums. Job boards and forums quote ages from 14 to 16, which is exactly why the only reliable answer is the restaurant's own.

How old can you be under the law?

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 14 is the youngest age at which a restaurant can hire you for regular work. At 14 and 15:

• You can work the counter, take orders, handle the register, clean the dining room, and do limited cooking (grills with no open flame, fryers that lower and raise the baskets by themselves).
• You can work at most 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a day off and 40 in a week off school.
• You cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m., except from June 1 to Labor Day, when you can work until 9 p.m.

At 16 the federal hour limits end, which is one reason many restaurants prefer to hire at 16. Your state can be stricter than federal law, and many states require a work permit for younger teens. Check your state on the Department of Labor's state table.

Does Chick-fil-A hire at 14 or 15?

Some restaurants may; Chick-fil-A does not publish which. The quickest way to find out:

1. Search jobs.chick-fil-a.com with your location, and read each restaurant's posting for an age.
2. If the posting does not say, call or visit the restaurant at a quiet time (mid afternoon) and ask: "Hi, I'm 15. Do you hire Team Members my age?"
3. Ask what days and hours they need, and compare them with the limits above.

What roles are there?

Chick-fil-A calls its restaurant staff Team Members, and each restaurant decides which jobs it gives to younger teens, within the law above. Chick-fil-A also says Team Members can apply for its Remarkable Futures college scholarships, and that it has invested more than $191 million in them since 1970 (as stated on its careers page, October 2, 2026).

Do you need a resume?

Chick-fil-A's own pages do not say one is required for restaurant jobs: you search and apply through its job site. Still, a short resume helps at the interview. It shows you prepared, and it gives the manager something to ask you about, such as babysitting, a sport or a club.

What to bring

• Your availability. A written list of the days and hours you can work, around school.
• A one page resume. Printed, or on your phone.
• Your work permit, if your state requires one. Your school counselor usually knows the steps.
• ID for the paperwork after you are hired. Every new employee fills in Form I-9. If you are under 18 and have no photo ID, the government's list accepts a school record or report card as your identity document, together with a document such as a Social Security card or birth certificate.

Your first resume

You do not need work history. Put your school first, then anything that shows you show up and work well with people: babysitting, volunteering, sports, a club. You can build it here, step by step on your phone.