Do 15-Year-Olds Need a Work Permit? Rules, Hours, and Pay

In most states, yes — a 15-year-old does need a work permit before starting a job. Federal law does not require one, but the majority of states do, and it’s your state’s rule that decides the question in practice.¹ The permit goes by different names depending on where you live: work permit, employment certificate, or working papers. Whatever it’s called, you’ll usually get it through your school, and you’ll need it in hand before your first shift.

Who Issues the Permit

In most states, the school where the minor is enrolled issues the permit. A smaller number of states handle it through the state labor department instead. Either way, the guidance office at your school is the right first stop, because staff there will either issue the permit directly or point you to the state agency that does.

The Fair Labor Standards Act itself does not require minors to obtain a work permit or employment certificate.² That decision is left to each state, which is why the answer to whether you personally need one comes down to where you live.

What You Need to Apply

Before you start the paperwork, pull together a few documents:

Proof of age, such as a birth certificate or passport
School records showing current enrollment and satisfactory academic standing
A letter or form from your prospective employer describing the job duties and proposed schedule
Written consent from a parent or guardian

The employer’s piece matters. Without a specific job offer to describe, most states won’t process the application, because the permit is generally tied to that particular position. If you change jobs later, you’ll usually need a new permit.

How the Application Works

The minor, the parent, and the employer each fill out their own sections of the application. The forms are typically available through the school’s guidance office or the state labor department’s website. Once every section is complete, the form goes to the issuing authority for review. Some states accept online submission; others still require you to hand it in.

If the paperwork is in order, the permit is approved and generally becomes valid once the minor signs it. Most states don’t charge a fee, though a few charge a small processing cost.

When You Don’t Need a Permit

Federal law carves out a handful of situations where a 15-year-old is exempt from the standard child labor scheme, and in states that require a permit those exemptions typically flow through as well.

Working for a parent’s business. A minor under 16 can work in a non-agricultural business solely owned by a parent, as long as the work isn’t in manufacturing, mining, or a job the Department of Labor has declared hazardous.³
Agricultural work on a parent’s farm. A minor working on a farm owned or operated by a parent is exempt from many of the standard restrictions, though hazardous agricultural tasks remain off limits for workers under 16.⁴
Acting and performing. Federal child labor rules do not apply to minors employed as actors or performers in motion pictures, theater, radio, or television. Many states run their own entertainment industry permit systems, so the federal exemption doesn’t necessarily mean no paperwork.⁵

One important limit on these exemptions: even when a permit isn’t required, the rules against hazardous work for minors still apply. A parent-owned business can set the schedule, but it can’t put a 15-year-old on a construction site or behind a power saw.

The Rules That Still Apply Once You Have the Permit

A permit lets you work. It doesn’t lift the federal caps on how much and what kind of work a 15-year-old can do.

Hour Limits

Federal law caps a 15-year-old’s schedule as follows:⁶

No more than 3 hours on a school day, including Fridays
No more than 18 hours during a school week
No more than 8 hours on a non-school day
No more than 40 hours during a non-school week
No work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when the evening cutoff shifts to 9:00 p.m.

These are federal floors. Your state can impose tighter limits or require breaks that the federal rules don’t. The 3-hour school-day cap catches new workers off guard because it applies on Fridays too.

What Kinds of Jobs Are Allowed

Federal law limits 14- and 15-year-olds to non-manufacturing, non-mining, non-hazardous work.² Common permitted jobs include:⁷

Retail work such as cashiering, stocking, price marking, and packing
Computer programming, tutoring, and creative or performing work
Errands and delivery by foot, bicycle, or public transportation
Yard work with hand tools (no power-driven mowers or trimmers)
Limited food service, including reheating food, washing dishes, and cleaning equipment
Dispensing gas and hand-washing vehicles
Lifeguarding at traditional swimming pools and amusement parks, if qualified

Off limits: operating power-driven machinery other than typical office equipment, and working inside freezers or meat coolers. Food service is where teens most often run into trouble, because tasks that look allowed sometimes aren’t. A 15-year-old can’t operate power-driven slicers, grinders, choppers, or mixers, and can’t cook with high-speed ovens, rotisseries, pressure cookers, or open flames. Deep frying is allowed only if the fryer automatically lowers and raises the basket without the worker touching it.⁸ If a manager hands you tongs and points at a grill, that’s a violation regardless of what your permit says.

What You’ll Be Paid

Federal law allows employers to pay a worker under 20 a youth minimum wage of $4.25 per hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment. After 90 days, or when the worker turns 20 — whichever comes first — the wage must go up to at least the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.⁹

Many states set their own minimum wages above the federal rate, and those higher rates apply. Some states don’t allow the youth sub-minimum wage at all. Check your state labor department for the rate that governs where you actually work.

If the Employer Skips the Rules

Responsibility for following child labor law falls on the employer, not on you or your parents. Federal civil penalties for child labor violations run up to $16,035 per minor per violation, and much higher when a violation causes serious injury or death.¹⁰ Willful violations can also draw criminal fines.¹¹

If a 15-year-old is hurt on the job, workers’ compensation generally covers the injury even if the employer never got the required permit or otherwise broke the rules. Noncompliance doesn’t release an employer from its obligation to cover a workplace injury.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
3
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA – Child Labor Rules Advisor – Exemptions
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 12 – Agricultural Employment Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
5
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA – Child Labor Rules
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Hours Restrictions for Non-Agricultural Employees
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs for 14 and 15 Year Olds
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Cooking and Baking under the Federal Child Labor Provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Wages for Youth
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties