Can Minors Work Full Time? Federal Limits, State Rules, and Exceptions

Yes, minors can work full time under federal law once they turn 16, with no cap on weekly hours and no restriction on time of day. Younger teens, ages 14 and 15, can hit a 40-hour week only when school is out, such as during summer, winter, and spring break. State law often layers extra restrictions on top of the federal rules, so whether a specific minor can actually work full time depends on their age, the time of year, and the state where the job is located.

Full-Time Work at 16 and 17

Federal law draws a sharp line at age 16. Once a minor turns 16, the Fair Labor Standards Act places no limit on the number of hours they can work or the times of day they can be scheduled. A 16-year-old can legally work overnight shifts, weekends, and 40-plus-hour weeks under federal rules.¹

That means a full-time schedule is legal at the federal level for both 16- and 17-year-olds. The only federal ceiling left is the type of work: certain jobs stay off-limits until the worker turns 18.

Full-Time Work at 14 and 15

For 14- and 15-year-olds, full time is a seasonal answer. When school is in session, this age group can work no more than three hours on any school day and no more than 18 hours in a school week. When school is out, those limits rise to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, opening the door to a full-time schedule during breaks.²

Time-of-day rules still apply even during breaks. A 14- or 15-year-old cannot work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. during most of the year. Between June 1 and Labor Day, the evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m.² A summer 40-hour week has to be built inside that window.

Homeschooling doesn’t change this. For a homeschooled or private-school minor, the “school day” and “school week” follow the calendar of the local public school district where the minor lives while employed. If the local public school is in session, the reduced hour limits apply.²

Jobs That Stay Off-Limits Until 18

Unlimited hours don’t mean unlimited job choices. The federal government maintains 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders that ban workers under 18 from specific types of work, regardless of how many hours they’re allowed to clock. The commonly relevant ones include:¹

Driving motor vehicles on public roads or working as an outside helper on vehicles. A narrow exception allows 17-year-olds to drive cars or small trucks during daylight under strictly limited conditions.
Operating power-driven hoisting equipment like forklifts, backhoes, scissor lifts, and boom trucks.
Using power-driven meat slicers, saws, or choppers anywhere, including restaurant delis. Even hand-washing the disassembled parts is prohibited.
Operating power-driven bakery machines, including dough mixers and dough rollers.
Running power-driven woodworking machines like saws, sanders, and chain saws.
Most work in coal mines, metal mines, quarries, and sand and gravel operations.
Roofing operations, excavation, and wrecking or demolition work.
Any work involving exposure to radioactive substances or ionizing radiation.

These are the restrictions that trip up employers most often. A restaurant that lets a 17-year-old work the commercial meat slicer, or a warehouse that hands a minor forklift keys, is violating federal law even when the teen’s hours are otherwise unrestricted.

How State Law Can Shrink a Full-Time Schedule

Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling. When a state imposes stricter rules than the FLSA, the employer must follow the state rule. When federal law is stricter, federal law controls. The result is always whichever standard gives the minor more protection.³

Many states restrict 16- and 17-year-olds in ways federal law does not. Common state-level restrictions include curfews on school nights (prohibiting work past 10 or 11 p.m.), caps on daily or weekly hours during the school year, and mandatory rest or meal breaks. Some states limit total weekly hours for 16- and 17-year-olds to 30 or 35 during the school year, which makes a true full-time schedule impossible even though federal law would allow it.

Because of this patchwork, checking the child labor laws for the state where the job is located isn’t optional. A schedule that is legal in one state may violate the law a few miles across the border.

Situations That Change the Answer

Several categories of work fall outside the standard federal child labor rules, and each can open the door to hours a minor otherwise couldn’t work.

Working in a Parent’s Business

A minor of any age can work in a business owned entirely by their parents, with two hard limits: children under 16 still cannot work in mining or manufacturing, and no one under 18 can work in a job declared hazardous.¹ Outside those limits, the usual hour and time-of-day restrictions don’t apply.

Early Graduation

A minor who has completed high school is exempt from the FLSA’s hour and time-of-day restrictions, even if they’re still under 18. The hazardous-occupation bans remain in effect until the worker’s 18th birthday.²

Agricultural Work

Farm work operates under a separate, less restrictive set of federal rules. Children as young as 12 can work on a farm outside school hours with written parental consent, or if a parent works on the same farm. Starting at age 14, a minor can work in agriculture outside school hours without needing parental consent. Children under 16 remain banned from farm tasks the Secretary of Labor has declared hazardous, but that restriction doesn’t apply on a farm owned or operated by the child’s parent.⁴⁵

Performers and Newspaper Delivery

Child actors in movies, television, radio, and theater are exempt from the FLSA’s child labor provisions entirely, though state rules often impose their own limits on set hours, tutoring, and rest.⁵ Delivering newspapers directly to consumers is also exempt from all federal child labor rules, including the hour and hazardous-occupation restrictions.¹

One thing that doesn’t change the answer: emancipation. A court order emancipating a minor does not lift the FLSA’s hour restrictions or the hazardous-occupation rules. A 15-year-old who has been emancipated still cannot work past 7 p.m. on a school night under federal law.

Pay and Overtime on a Full-Time Schedule

Minors are covered by the same federal minimum wage as adults: $7.25 per hour. One exception applies. Employers can pay a reduced rate of $4.25 per hour to any worker under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job, as long as the lower-paid worker isn’t displacing other employees. After those 90 days, or when the worker turns 20, whichever comes first, the full minimum wage applies.⁶ Many states set a higher minimum wage, and the higher rate always controls.

Overtime applies equally to minors. Any covered employee who works more than 40 hours in a workweek must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for the extra hours. The employer cannot waive this by agreement, and being a minor doesn’t change the calculation.⁷ A 16-year-old picking up a sixth shift in the week is entitled to time-and-a-half like anyone else.

What Happens When Employers Break the Rules

Civil penalties for a standard child labor violation can reach $16,035 per affected employee. When a violation causes serious injury or death to a minor, the ceiling jumps to $72,876. If the violation was willful or repeated and resulted in serious injury or death, the penalty can reach $145,752.⁸ These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation.

On the criminal side, a willful violation of any FLSA provision, including child labor rules, carries a fine of up to $10,000. A second criminal conviction can add up to six months of imprisonment.⁹ State penalties layer on top, with first-time administrative fines ranging from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the state.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs – 14-15
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
4
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Youth in Agriculture – Youth Rights and State/Child Laws
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 – Exemptions
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #23 – Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties