Teen Work Hour Laws: How Many Hours Can a Minor Work? (2026)
Federal and state teen work hour caps for 2026: how many hours 14, 15, 16, and 17 year-olds can work, night limits, hazardous jobs, and how to track shifts.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Child labor rules change often at both the federal and state level; always check current U.S. Department of Labor and state labor agency guidance, or consult a qualified attorney for your specific situation.
Quick Answer: How Many Hours a Minor Can Work
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the federal floor for how many hours teens can work in non-agricultural jobs. States can add stricter rules on top, and most do, especially for 16 and 17 year-olds.
Here is the federal baseline at a glance.
| Age | School day | Non-school day | School week | Non-school week | Night-hour limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 to 15 | 3 hours max | 8 hours max | 18 hours max | 40 hours max | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (9 p.m. June 1 to Labor Day) |
| 16 to 17 | No federal limit | No federal limit | No federal limit | No federal limit | None federally |
| 18 and older | No limit | No limit | No limit | No limit | None |
For 16 and 17 year-olds, every state writes its own rules. Many cap weekly hours, restrict school-night work, or require work permits. When federal and state rules disagree, the stricter one controls.
Federal law also bans minors under 18 from 17 specific Hazardous Occupations, no matter how many hours per week the job lasts.
Key Takeaways
- 14 to 15 year-olds can work a maximum of 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, 18 hours in a school week, and 40 hours in a non-school week.
- Night-hour rule for 14 to 15: work must happen between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.
- 16 to 17 year-olds have no federal hour or night-time cap, but state law often imposes one (New York 48/week, California 8/day and 48/week during school, Colorado 40/week).
- Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs 1 to 17) apply to every worker under 18. Driving, roofing, meat slicing, power saws, and excavation are off-limits regardless of consent.
- Work permits are required in roughly half the states (CA, NY, PA, MA, NJ, and more). Michigan rolls out a new statewide registration system on October 2, 2026.
- Enforcement is rising. In fiscal year 2024 the DOL closed 736 child-labor cases involving 4,030 children and assessed $15.1 million in civil penalties, an 89% year-over-year jump.
The Federal Baseline: FLSA Rules for Teen Workers
The FLSA covers nearly every non-farm employer with at least $500,000 in annual sales or whose employees engage in interstate commerce. In practice, that covers almost every retail store, restaurant, office, and warehouse a teen is likely to work for.
Federal rules split into two age bands: 14 to 15 and 16 to 17. Under 14, non-agricultural work is mostly off-limits, with narrow exceptions for newspaper delivery, acting, and casual babysitting.
Ages 14 and 15: the strictest federal caps
The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #43 lays out the numbers for 14 and 15 year-olds. They can work outside of school hours, with these limits:
- 3 hours on a school day
- 8 hours on a non-school day
- 18 hours in a school week
- 40 hours in a non-school week
- Only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day
A “school week” is any week the local school district is in session for at least one day. This trips up a lot of parents during partial weeks, like a spring break that starts on a Wednesday. If school met even once, the 18-hour cap applies.
Job types are also restricted. 14 and 15 year-olds can work as cashiers, baggers, office assistants, runners, hosts, dishwashers, and similar roles. They cannot cook over open flames (with limited exceptions), operate slicers, work on ladders or scaffolds, or load goods into balers or compactors.
Approved programs can lift some caps. The Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) lets 14 and 15 year-old enrollees work up to 23 hours in a school week and up to 3 hours on a school day, including during school hours.
Ages 16 and 17: no federal hour cap
Once a worker turns 16, the FLSA’s hour and night-time restrictions drop away entirely. There is no federal limit on how many hours a 16 or 17 year-old can work per day or per week, and no federal curfew.
That does not mean anything goes. All 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders still apply until age 18, and (this is the part most articles bury) state law usually fills the gap.
State Laws Catch What Federal Law Misses
When federal and state child-labor laws conflict, the stricter rule wins. For 14 and 15 year-olds, the federal rule is usually the strictest because the federal caps are already tight. For 16 and 17 year-olds, state law almost always tightens the screws.
Here is a sample of how a handful of states treat 16 and 17 year-olds during the school year. This is not legal advice. Check your state’s department of labor for the current rule.
| State | Max hours per week (in school) | School-night limit |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 48 hours total combined with school | Until 10 p.m. on school nights (midnight on non-school nights) |
| California | 48 hours per week, 8 hours per day | 10 p.m. on school night, 12:30 a.m. before non-school day |
| Colorado | 40 hours per week | 9:30 p.m. on school night for under-16; 16+ no cap |
| Massachusetts | 48 hours per week, 9 hours per day | 10 p.m. school night; midnight Fri/Sat for 16-17 |
| New Jersey | 40 hours per week during school | 11 p.m. school night for 16-17 |
| Washington | 28 hours school week (16-17) | 10 p.m. Sun-Thu during school |
| Texas | No state cap on 16-17 | None for 16-17 |
| Florida | 30 hours school week (16-17) | 11 p.m. on school night |
A teen working in New York can legally work 48 hours combined with school in a single week, but cannot clock in after 10 p.m. on a school night. A teen in Texas with the same job, same age, faces no state hour cap and no curfew. Same federal law, very different reality.
The DOL keeps a current state-by-state table of these standards. It is the fastest 30-second check before a teen accepts a schedule.
Hazardous Occupations Every Teen and Parent Should Know
Even when a teen is old enough to work unlimited hours, federal law still bans 17 specific job categories until age 18. These are called Hazardous Occupations Orders, or HOs, and they apply to non-agricultural work under 29 CFR Part 570.
The full list, in plain language:
- Making or storing explosives
- Driving a motor vehicle on public roads or working as an outside helper on a motor vehicle (limited 17-year-old exception with strict conditions)
- Coal mining
- Forest fire fighting, forest fire prevention, timber tract operations, and sawmills
- Operating power-driven woodworking machines
- Exposure to radioactive substances
- Operating power-driven hoists, forklifts, and similar lifting equipment
- Operating power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines
- Mining other than coal
- Operating power-driven meat-processing equipment (meat slicers, grinders, choppers), and most slaughtering and packing roles
- Operating power-driven bakery machines
- Operating power-driven balers, compactors, and paper-products machines (the trash compactor at a fast-food job)
- Manufacturing brick, tile, and related products
- Operating power-driven circular saws, band saws, guillotine shears, chain saws, reciprocating saws, wood chippers, and abrasive cutting discs
- Wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operations
- Roofing operations and all work on or about a roof
- Excavation operations
A few HOs trip up teen workers in everyday jobs. HO-10 (meat slicers) hits delis and supermarkets. HO-12 (compactors and balers) hits fast food, grocery, and big-box retail. HO-16 (roofing) hits family construction businesses. HO-2 (driving) hits any “go pick up the order” task at a small shop.
14 and 15 year-olds face an even broader prohibited list. They cannot cook over open flames, work on ladders, operate power-driven machines, or load and unload from a truck. The full list lives in Fact Sheet #43.
A safe rule of thumb: cashier, host, busser, bagger, lifeguard, camp counselor, ticket-taker, and office assistant jobs almost never run into HOs. Construction, food processing, and any role involving driving or power equipment need a careful look.
Work Permits, Age Certificates, and Recordkeeping
Federal law does not require a work permit, but the FLSA does require employers to keep proof of age on file for every worker under 18. States fill in the rest, and the patchwork is real.
States that require a work permit or age certificate
Roughly half the states require some form of certificate before a minor starts work. The list includes California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan (starting October 2, 2026), and others. The process usually involves the school district, the parent, and the employer.
States that do not require one
Florida, Minnesota, Texas (for most jobs), and several others rely on the employer’s I-9 process and proof of age (a driver’s license or birth certificate) instead of a separate work permit.
2025 to 2026 regulatory updates
Two changes worth flagging:
- New York passed sweeping amendments to its child-labor law in 2025. Penalties roughly doubled, and the working-papers system was overhauled.
- Michigan launches a statewide minor employment registration system on October 2, 2026, replacing the older school-district permit process.
What an employer must keep on file
Employers must keep proof of age for every worker under 18, plus accurate records of daily start and stop times, daily and weekly hours, and meal breaks. If a Wage and Hour Division investigator asks for a teen’s timecards, the employer has to produce them.
If you are the teen, ask for a copy of your schedule and a copy of your time records when you start. Most employers will hand them over. If yours will not, that is a warning sign.
What to Do If Your Hours Are Violated
Child-labor enforcement has picked up sharply over the last five years. The DOL reports a 31% increase in children employed in violation of federal child-labor laws between 2019 and 2024, and a single July 2025 consent judgment against Mar-Jac Poultry in Alabama resulted in $385,000 in penalties for employing minors as young as 13 in hazardous jobs.
If your schedule looks wrong, here is the path.
Step 1: Spot the violation
Common red flags:
- Scheduled past 7 p.m. on a school night if you are 14 or 15 (or past 9 p.m. in summer)
- Scheduled for more than 18 hours in a week the school district was in session
- Scheduled for more than 3 hours on a school day if you are 14 or 15
- Asked to operate a slicer, baler, compactor, fryer, or saw while under 18
- Asked to drive on public roads as part of the job while under 18 (limited exceptions for 17 year-olds)
Step 2: Document everything
Write down the dates, the scheduled hours, the hours you actually worked, and what tasks you performed. Screenshot the schedule if it lives in an app. Save text messages or emails from the manager.
This is where independent hour tracking pays off. If you only have the employer’s records, and the employer is the one breaking the rule, the proof can vanish. Logging your own shifts (clock-in time, clock-out time, breaks, what you did) gives you a record nobody else controls.
Step 3: File a complaint
The federal route: file a confidential complaint with the DOL Wage and Hour Division online, or call 1-866-487-9243. The process is free, your name is not shared with the employer, and you do not need a lawyer.
The state route: every state labor agency takes child-labor complaints. Many states have parallel hour limits and HO lists, so you may be able to file federally and at the state level on the same facts.
Step 4: Know that retaliation is illegal
Your employer cannot fire you, cut your hours, or punish you for raising a child-labor concern or filing a complaint. If retaliation happens, that becomes a separate claim on top of the original hour violation.
How to Track Your Own Hours (and Why It Matters)
A working teen is rarely the one in charge of payroll. The schedule arrives, the shifts get worked, and a paycheck shows up two weeks later. Whether the hours and the pay match is mostly an act of trust.
A simple weekly routine turns that trust into proof:
- Clock in and clock out for every shift on your own device, not just the employer’s POS. Phone notes work in a pinch.
- Log breaks. Federal law does not require breaks for teens, but most states do, and unpaid breaks should not show up as worked hours on either record.
- Total the week on Sunday night. Compare the total against the federal cap for your age and against your state’s cap.
- Compare your total against the paycheck. Multiply hours by your rate (plus any overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek). If the stub disagrees with your math, ask payroll.
- Keep PDF copies of pay stubs. They are evidence if a regular-rate audit (see our overtime guide) or a child-labor complaint becomes necessary.
Timeclock44 is a free way to do all of this from a phone. Punch in, punch out, see weekly totals, export a PDF if a parent or a labor investigator needs it. It will not stop violations on its own, but it puts the proof in the teen’s pocket instead of the employer’s payroll system.
You can also explore our other hour and pay calculators for one-off questions: weekly hours, overtime pay, double time, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours can a 14-year-old work in a week?
Up to 18 hours during a school week and up to 40 hours during a non-school week, per the FLSA.
How many hours can a 15-year-old work on a school day?
No more than 3 hours on a school day, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day).
How many hours can a 16-year-old work in a week?
Federal law sets no limit, but many states cap it. For example, New York limits 16 and 17 year-olds to 48 hours per week. Check your state.
Can a 17-year-old work past 10 p.m. on a school night?
Federally, yes. There is no FLSA night-hour restriction for 16 and 17 year-olds. But some states restrict late-night work on school nights, so check state law.
Do minors need a work permit to get a job?
It depends on the state. California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts (among others) require permits or age certificates. Florida and Minnesota do not. Michigan launches a new statewide registration system on October 2, 2026.
What jobs are minors banned from doing?
The FLSA bans minors under 18 from 17 Hazardous Occupations, including operating power-driven saws, working on roofs, driving on public roads (mostly), meat slicing, and excavation. 14 and 15 year-olds face an even broader prohibited list.
What happens if my employer schedules me beyond the legal hour limits?
You can file a confidential complaint with the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division or your state’s department of labor. Keep your own shift records (clock-in/out times, breaks) as evidence. Apps like Timeclock44 make this easy.
Are these rules different for farm work or family businesses?
Yes. Agricultural employment and work performed for a parent’s non-hazardous business have separate FLSA rules. This guide covers non-agricultural work only.
Related Reading
- FLSA Overtime Rules: A Plain-English Guide for Hourly Workers: How the 40-hour rule works, exempt vs. nonexempt status, and how to file a wage complaint.
- Regular Rate of Pay: What Counts for Overtime: What gets folded into your overtime rate, including bonuses, differentials, and commissions.
- Hours and Pay Calculators: Free tools for weekly hours, overtime pay, paycheck math, and shift tracking.
References
- DOL Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations: Official federal hour caps, night-time limits, and prohibited occupations for 14 to 17 year-olds.
- DOL elaws: Hours Restrictions for Non-Agricultural Employees: Interactive federal guide to the 7 a.m. / 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. summer rule.
- DOL elaws: Prohibited Occupations for Non-Agricultural Employees: Plain-language summary of all 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders for minors under 18.
- DOL: Selected State Child Labor Standards: Current state-by-state table of permit, hour, and night-time rules (updated July 2025).
- DOL: Child Labor Enforcement: Keeping Young Workers Safe: FY 2024 enforcement statistics including the 89% year-over-year increase in penalties.
- 29 CFR Part 570: Child Labor Regulations: Full federal regulations, including the Hazardous Occupations Orders.
- DOL Wage and Hour Division: How to File a Complaint: Confidential federal complaint process for hour and HO violations.
- Littler: New York Enacts Sweeping Amendments to Child Labor Laws (2025): Summary of New York’s 2025 overhaul of permits, hour rules, and penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours can a 14-year-old work in a week?
Up to 18 hours during a school week and up to 40 hours during a non-school week, per the FLSA.
How many hours can a 15-year-old work on a school day?
No more than 3 hours on a school day, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day).
How many hours can a 16-year-old work in a week?
Federal law sets no limit, but many states cap it. For example, New York limits 16 and 17 year-olds to 48 hours per week. Check your state.
Can a 17-year-old work past 10 p.m. on a school night?
Federally, yes. There is no FLSA night-hour restriction for 16 and 17 year-olds. But some states restrict late-night work on school nights, so check state law.
Do minors need a work permit to get a job?
It depends on the state. California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts (among others) require permits or age certificates. Florida and Minnesota do not. Michigan launches a new statewide registration system on October 2, 2026.
What jobs are minors banned from doing?
The FLSA bans minors under 18 from 17 Hazardous Occupations, including operating power-driven saws, working on roofs, driving on public roads (mostly), meat slicing, and excavation. 14 and 15 year-olds face an even broader prohibited list.
What happens if my employer schedules me beyond the legal hour limits?
You can file a confidential complaint with the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division or your state's department of labor. Keep your own shift records (clock-in/out times, breaks) as evidence. Apps like Timeclock44 make this easy.
Are these rules different for farm work or family businesses?
Yes. Agricultural employment and work performed for a parent's non-hazardous business have separate FLSA rules. This guide covers non-agricultural work only.