Payroll for Minors: Age Restrictions, Hour Limits, and Wage Rules
8/7/2026
Child labor rules are among the few payroll compliance areas where a violation can carry criminal exposure and where penalties are assessed per violation with substantially higher amounts where an injury results. They are also among the most state-variable, with state law frequently stricter than federal law on every dimension.
The structure is straightforward once separated: age determines what work is permitted, age determines what hours are permitted, and state law usually tightens both.
Federal Age Thresholds for Non-Agricultural Work
Under 14 — employment is generally prohibited, with narrow exceptions including newspaper delivery, acting and performing, work in a business solely owned by the parents (excluding manufacturing, mining, and hazardous occupations), and certain casual work such as babysitting.
Ages 14 and 15 — permitted in a limited list of occupations, subject to strict hour limits, and expressly prohibited from many others including manufacturing, mining, processing, most operation of power-driven machinery, work in freezers and meat coolers, loading and unloading, and most construction.
Ages 16 and 17 — may work unlimited hours in any occupation not declared hazardous.
Age 18 and over — no federal child labor restrictions.
The hazardous occupation orders are the provision with the most severe consequences, and they are absolute — parental consent does not permit them, and the employee's own willingness is irrelevant.
Hour Limits for 14- and 15-Year-Olds
Federally, work by 14- and 15-year-olds is limited:
When school is in session: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
When school is not in session: no more than 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, and — during a defined summer period — the evening limit extends to 9 p.m.
Work must occur outside school hours in all cases.
Two operational points: these limits are enforced against the employer, not the minor, so scheduling systems must prevent violations rather than relying on the employee to decline; and a minor working for two employers can exceed the weekly limit in aggregate while each employer stays within it individually. Ask about other employment.
Hazardous Occupation Orders
Certain occupations are prohibited for anyone under 18 in non-agricultural work, regardless of consent. They include, among others:
- Operating or assisting with most power-driven machinery, including woodworking, metal-forming, bakery, and paper-products machines
- Operating power-driven meat processing equipment, and most work in meat and poultry processing
- Driving a motor vehicle as a primary duty, with a narrow limited exception for 17-year-olds meeting specific conditions
- Roofing and work performed on or about a roof
- Excavation
- Wrecking and demolition
- Most work with explosives, radioactive substances, and certain hazardous materials
- Logging and sawmilling
- Mining
- Operating power-driven hoisting apparatus, including forklifts
The forklift and motor vehicle prohibitions catch employers most often, because both feel like ordinary tasks in warehouse, retail, and delivery settings.
Additional occupations are prohibited for 14- and 15-year-olds beyond this list, which is why the two age bands must be tracked separately rather than treated as one "minors" category.
Agriculture Follows Different Rules
Agricultural child labor provisions are substantially more permissive federally, and they are a separate regime rather than an exception to the above.
Broadly, minors may work in agriculture at younger ages, generally outside school hours, with parental consent required at the youngest ages, and with hazardous agricultural occupations prohibited below a specified age. Work on a farm owned or operated by the minor's parents is treated differently again.
Two cautions: state agricultural rules are frequently stricter than federal, and the definitional question of what constitutes agricultural work — the same question that governs agricultural payroll tax treatment — determines which regime applies. See our agricultural payroll guide.
The Youth Minimum Wage
Federal law permits paying employees under 20 a lower youth minimum wage during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with that employer.
Conditions:
- It is 90 calendar days, not 90 working days, and it runs continuously from the first day of employment
- It ends when the employee turns 20, if sooner
- The employer may not displace other employees to hire youth at the lower rate
- Many states prohibit it or set a higher floor, and the state rule controls
Because so many states either prohibit the youth wage or impose a minimum wage well above the federal figure, the provision is unavailable to a large share of employers. Verify before relying on it. See our minimum wage by state guide.
Separately, minors are not exempt from overtime where they work more than 40 hours in a week and the hour limits permit it — which in practice applies mainly to 16- and 17-year-olds.
Work Permits and Age Certificates
Federal law does not require a work permit, but most states do, and the requirements vary considerably:
- Some require an employment certificate issued per job, obtained before work begins
- Some require an age certificate verifying date of birth
- Some require school authority involvement or parental signature
- Some require the employer to retain the certificate on file and produce it on request
- Requirements frequently differ by age band and by whether school is in session
The employer-side obligation is the one that matters: the certificate is generally the employer's record to keep, and its absence is a violation independent of whether the minor was otherwise lawfully employed.
A related protection worth knowing: a properly obtained age certificate generally provides the employer a good-faith defense against a claim that it employed an underage minor. That makes obtaining and retaining it valuable beyond the bare compliance requirement.
Penalties
Child labor penalties are assessed per violation per minor, are adjusted annually, and carry substantially higher maximums where a violation results in serious injury or death. Willful or repeated violations can carry criminal penalties.
Two additional consequences: the hot goods provision can prohibit shipment of goods produced in violation, which is a supply-chain problem rather than a payroll one; and child labor findings attract publicity in a way most wage-and-hour findings do not.
What Payroll and Scheduling Must Do
- [ ] Record and verify date of birth for every employee, and act on it
- [ ] Obtain and retain work permits or age certificates where the state requires them
- [ ] Configure scheduling to enforce hour limits by age band and by school-in-session status, rather than relying on manual compliance
- [ ] Track the school calendar for each relevant school district, since the limits change with it
- [ ] Ask about other employment, since aggregate hours can exceed limits
- [ ] Maintain a list of prohibited tasks by age band, and train supervisors on it
- [ ] Flag forklift, motor vehicle, roofing, and power-driven machinery assignments specifically
- [ ] Re-evaluate at each birthday, since permitted work and hours change at 16 and again at 18
- [ ] Verify the youth minimum wage is permitted in the state before applying it, and track the 90 calendar days
- [ ] Apply overtime normally where hours exceed 40
- [ ] Confirm whether agricultural rules apply, and check the state's agricultural provisions
- [ ] Verify workers' compensation treatment, since some states impose increased benefits for injured minors
The scheduling control is the one that matters most. Hour violations are almost always created by a scheduling decision made by a supervisor who did not know the limit, and a system that will not permit the schedule is more effective than a policy that says not to.
Summer and Seasonal Hiring
Most child labor exposure is created in a compressed period by people hiring at volume, and the seasonal pattern is worth planning around.
Volume overwhelms verification. An operation hiring dozens of seasonal staff in two weeks is the situation in which date of birth goes unverified, work permits are not collected, and a 15-year-old is scheduled as though they were 17. Build the age check into the hiring workflow rather than into an onboarding packet reviewed later.
Hour limits change when school ends — and change back. The summer limits for 14- and 15-year-olds are more permissive, and they revert when the school year begins. Where districts have different calendars, the applicable limit differs by employee. A schedule that was lawful in July becomes unlawful in late August without anyone changing it.
Seasonal supervisors are the least trained. The person scheduling summer staff is frequently a seasonal or newly promoted supervisor who has never been told about hour limits or prohibited tasks. That supervisor makes the scheduling decisions that create violations.
Equipment assignments are the risk. Seasonal roles in retail, warehousing, food service, and landscaping routinely involve exactly the equipment that is prohibited — forklifts, power-driven machinery, delivery driving, and roof or ladder work above permitted limits.
Two-employer aggregation peaks in summer, when a student may hold two jobs and neither employer knows about the other.
Four controls handle most of it: verify date of birth before the first shift and act on it, load school-in-session and out-of-session hour rules into the scheduling system with the correct calendar, give seasonal supervisors a one-page list of prohibited tasks by age, and ask every minor at hire whether they have other employment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum age to work?
Federally, 14 for most non-agricultural work, with narrow exceptions below that age including newspaper delivery, acting, work in a business solely owned by the parents outside manufacturing and hazardous occupations, and casual work such as babysitting. Agriculture permits younger ages under a separate and more permissive regime, and state law is frequently stricter than federal on both.
How many hours can a 14- or 15-year-old work?
Federally, when school is in session: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. When school is not in session: up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with the evening limit extending to 9 p.m. during a defined summer period. Work must always be outside school hours, and state limits are frequently stricter.
What jobs are prohibited for minors?
Occupations declared hazardous are prohibited for anyone under 18 regardless of parental consent — including most power-driven machinery, meat processing, driving as a primary duty, roofing, excavation, demolition, logging, mining, and operating forklifts and other hoisting apparatus. Additional occupations are prohibited for 14- and 15-year-olds, so the two age bands must be tracked separately.
Can employers pay a lower minimum wage to workers under 20?
Federal law permits a youth minimum wage during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment for employees under 20, ending sooner if they turn 20, and prohibits displacing other employees to use it. However, many states prohibit it or set a higher floor, and because state minimum wages frequently exceed the federal figure substantially, the provision is unavailable to a large share of employers.
Do minors need work permits?
Federal law does not require one, but most states do — variously an employment certificate issued per job, an age certificate verifying date of birth, or a document requiring school authority involvement or parental signature. The certificate is generally the employer's record to retain, its absence is an independent violation, and a properly obtained age certificate generally provides a good-faith defense against an underage employment claim.
What are the penalties for child labor violations?
Assessed per violation per minor, adjusted annually, with substantially higher maximums where a violation results in serious injury or death, and potential criminal penalties for willful or repeated violations. The hot goods provision can also prohibit shipment of goods produced in violation, and child labor findings attract publicity that most wage-and-hour findings do not.
Going Deeper
State child labor law is frequently stricter than federal on age, hours, permitted occupations, and permit requirements, and the rules differ again for agriculture. Verify each state's provisions, and build hour limits into scheduling rather than relying on supervisors to remember them.
