Child Labor Laws, Explained for Parents

If you only read one page in this section, read this one. Everything else here is a detail hanging off the three ages below.

What changes at 14, at 16 and at 18?

Federal child labor law for non-farm work comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Department of Labor summarises it in Fact Sheet #43. Three thresholds do the work.

Under 14. Children under 14 may not be employed in non-agricultural occupations covered by the FLSA. There are narrow exceptions outside that rule, including work for a parent’s business in non-hazardous jobs, newspaper delivery and performing, so do not read it as an absolute ban.

14 and 15. Young people of 14 and 15 may be employed outside school hours in a variety of non-manufacturing and non-hazardous jobs, for limited periods and under specified conditions. “Outside school hours” is doing real work in that sentence: a 14 year old may not work during their own school’s hours even on a day they are absent.

16 and 17. This is the sentence that matters most for a trades household. Sixteen and 17 year olds “may be employed for unlimited hours in any occupation other than those declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.” The constraint on a 16 year old under federal law is what they do, not how long.

18. Once a young person reaches 18, they are no longer subject to the federal youth employment provisions at all.

What are the hour limits for a 14 or 15 year old?

Five limits, and they apply at the same time. Quoting one on its own gives a misleading picture, so here is the set, all from Fact Sheet #43.

• 3 hours on a school day, including Fridays.
• 8 hours on a non-school day.
• 18 hours in a week when school is in session.
• 40 hours in a week when school is not in session.
• Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except between June 1 and Labor Day when the evening hour is extended to 9 p.m.

That last one is misquoted almost everywhere. The extension runs June 1 to Labor Day. It is not “the summer break.” If your district lets out on May 20, your 15 year old still has a 7 p.m. cutoff until June 1.

Is it true there are no federal hour limits at 16?

Yes, and this is the single most misunderstood point in the topic. Federal law imposes no daily cap, no weekly cap and no nighttime restriction on 16 and 17 year olds. Under federal law a 17 year old can lawfully work full time, including overnight, as long as the work itself is not on the hazardous occupations list.

Now the caveat, which is not optional. This is a federal floor. Many states do cap hours for 16 and 17 year olds and do restrict night work, particularly on school nights. The Department of Labor’s own rule is blunt: whichever of the two rules is the stricter on a given point is the one that governs, so a looser state rule changes nothing and a tighter one sets the real limit.

The stricter rule wins, every time. Never plan a schedule off the federal answer alone.

What is the hazardous occupations list?

It is seventeen orders, numbered HO 1 to HO 17 and codified at 29 CFR Part 570, Subpart E, covering the work the Secretary of Labor has declared too dangerous for anyone under 18. They include explosives, driving as an employee, logging and sawmills, power-driven woodworking machines, power-driven hoisting apparatus, metal forming machines, balers and paper-products machines, the saw and cutting-disc list, wrecking and demolition, roofing, and excavation.

Some of those orders carry an exemption for registered apprentices and school student-learners aged 16 or 17, under written conditions. Several carry none at all. That difference is the practical heart of this whole subject, and it is worked through in can a 17 year old work on a roof and what power tools a 16 year old can legally use.

What does this look like for one family?

Dario is 15 and has a Saturday and after-school job at a pet supply store, on the till and filling shelves. None of it goes anywhere near the hazardous occupations list, so for his parents the only live question is hours.

In term time he can work 3 hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours across the week, and he has to be finished by 7 p.m. His manager offers him a Thursday close. His mother checks the schedule, sees it runs to 8 p.m. in April, and asks for the earlier shift instead.

Once school ends in late May, the daily limit rises to 8 hours and the weekly limit to 40, but the 9 p.m. evening hour does not start until June 1. So for the last week of May, Dario can work longer days but still has to be off the floor by 7 p.m.

None of this is complicated. It is just easy to get wrong by assuming the summer rules start when school does.

This example is illustrative rather than a real family, but the late-May gap is a genuine trap.

What are the penalties if an employer gets it wrong?

The Wage and Hour Division can assess civil money penalties, and the current maximums are published on DOL’s penalties page: up to $16,035 for each employee who was the subject of a child labor violation, up to $72,876 for each violation that causes the death or serious injury of a minor, and up to $145,752 where such a violation is repeated or willful.

Two honest caveats. These are maximums, not standard assessments, so never assume a specific number. And they are adjusted for inflation most years, so check the date on the page; the figures above are the amounts published for on or after January 16, 2026.

If you think a rule is being broken, complaints to the Wage and Hour Division about child labor are free and confidential. If the concern is about safety rather than hours or age, what your teen can do if a job feels unsafe covers the different route for that.

How do I check my own state?

Start with the Department of Labor’s comparison table, Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment, which covers maximum hours, night work restrictions and related rules for every state and territory. Note the “as of” date at the top and treat the table as a pointer rather than the last word.

Then call your state labor department if anything about your teenager’s job sits near a line. Nobody at that office will be annoyed by the question, and they answer it every week. This page is general information and not legal advice, and if real money or a real injury is involved, that is a conversation for the state labor department or a lawyer.

The rest of this section goes deeper on the pieces: work permits and age certificates for the paperwork, and what your teen can legally do at work if you want to check one specific job.