Work Permits

• Workers younger than age 18, but at or over the minimum working age of 14, require a work permit before starting the job. This requires a job offer from an employer and filling out an application from the state’s Division of Occupational Safety website, which is linked in the Resources. The application asks the employer to describe the duties and hours of work for the teen as well as the approval of the teen’s parent, guardian or custodian. Those who are aged 14 and 15 also need a Physician’s Certificate of Health to be completed by their medical doctor. The doctor must have signed the certificate within the 12 months previous to the application. Teens must then take the application, and proof of age, such as a birth certificate or passport, to the Superintendent of Schools, who issues the permit. The employer must then keep the permit at the place of employment until the teen leaves the job. Note that teens under 14 may work as news carriers, on farms or in entertainment if they have a special permit.
  
  

Working Hours

• Those aged 14 and 15 years and during school sessions may work a maximum of 18 hours a week, with three hours a day on school days, and eight hours a day on weekends and holidays. They may work up to six days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. When school is not in session, these teens may work up to 40 hours a week. Those aged 16 and 17 may work only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on nights before a regularly scheduled school day and until 11:30 p.m. on nights not preceding a school day. These teens may work up to 48 hours a week, nine hours a day and six days a week, whether or not school is in session.
  
  

Prohibited Jobs for 14- and 15-Year-Olds

• Among the jobs prohibited to 14- and 15-year-olds are those where they operate, clean and repair power-driven machines. The exceptions are office machines, cash registers and cleaning and kitchen devices. They may not cook or bake, except on electric or gas grills with no open flames. They are not allowed to work in door-to-door street sales, including sign waving. They may also not be employed in construction, transportation, communication or public utilities, unless doing clerical work off construction sites. They may not work in amusement facilities such as bowling alleys, barber shops, warehouses, public message delivery or with any dangerous electrical machinery or appliances.
  
  

Prohibited Jobs for Those Under 18 Years Old

• Those under 18 may not drive vehicles, forklifts or work-assist vehicles other than golf carts under certain conditions. They may not use power-driven woodworking machines, saws, wood chippers or hoisting machines. They are prohibited from excavating, wrecking or demolition jobs and may not work in forest firefighting or fire prevention, or the forest service. They must not slaughter, pack or process meat and poultry. They cannot work in railway operations, in roofing, foundries or blast furnaces or in any jobs that require the holding or use of firearms.