Employing young workers in the United States
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Young workers — defined loosely as employees under 18 — can be hired legally in the United States, but federal and state child labor laws add a layer of requirements that don't apply to adult hires. Getting those requirements right protects both the worker and your business.
What federal law covers
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the foundation. It sets minimum age rules, limits on working hours, and restrictions on which jobs minors can hold.
Age 14–15. Workers in this age bracket can do a defined list of non-hazardous jobs — retail, food service, clerical work, and similar. Their hours are restricted: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 40 hours in a non-school week. They also cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year (9 p.m. in summer).
Age 16–17. Hours are unrestricted under federal law, but these workers still cannot be employed in occupations the Department of Labor designates as hazardous — operating certain machinery, roofing work, excavation, and others on the federal hazardous occupations list.
Age 18 and over. Full adult rules apply. No child labor restrictions.
Under 14. Employment is generally prohibited except in very narrow categories: working for a parent in a family-owned non-agricultural business that isn't hazardous, acting and performance, and delivering newspapers, among others. Agricultural work has separate — and more permissive — rules under federal law.
State law often goes further
States frequently impose stricter standards than the FLSA. Common additions include:
- Work permits or employment certificates. Many states require a minor to obtain a signed permit before starting work. The process varies: some issue permits through the school, others through a state labor agency. Check the specific state's department of labor website before making a hire.
- Stricter hour limits. A state may cap hours more tightly than federal rules, particularly during the school year.
- Expanded hazardous occupations lists. Some states restrict jobs the federal list doesn't cover.
- Higher minimum wages for all workers. Since young workers are generally covered by minimum wage law, any state or local rate above the federal minimum applies to them too.
Where state and federal rules conflict, the stricter rule applies.
Pay and taxes
Young workers are employees for payroll purposes. The same withholding obligations apply as for any other hire.
You collect a Form W-4, withhold federal income tax at the applicable rate, and handle FICA — Social Security at 6.2% (employee share) up to the annual wage base and Medicare at 1.45% with no cap. You match both as the employer. State income tax withholding applies where relevant; states such as Texas, Florida, and Washington have no state income tax, but most others do.
One note on Social Security: a child under 18 who works for a parent's sole proprietorship or partnership is exempt from FICA under a specific IRS rule. This narrow exemption does not apply to incorporated businesses or to work for other employers.
You still issue a Form W-2 by January 31 and file Form 941 quarterly, just as you would for any employee.
Practical steps before the first shift
1. Confirm the worker's age. Collect documentation. The FLSA places the burden on employers to verify age.
2. Check state work permit requirements. If the state requires one, get it before the employee starts — not after.
3. Review the federal and state hazardous occupations lists. Even if a role seems straightforward, confirm the specific tasks involved don't appear on either list.
4. Build a compliant schedule. If the worker is 14 or 15, set up scheduling guardrails that respect both the daily and weekly hour limits and the time-of-day restrictions.
5. Post required notices. Federal and state labor law posters must be displayed in the workplace. Several of these specifically reference child labor rules.
Common mistakes to avoid
Treating permits as optional. If your state requires a work permit and a minor starts without one, you are already in violation — even if you never intended to hire the worker improperly.
Assuming 16–17-year-olds have no restrictions. The hazardous occupations rules still apply in full, and some states layer additional hour limits on top of federal rules for this age group.
Overlooking agricultural rules. Farming operations have a significantly different set of age and hour rules under the FLSA. If your business involves agricultural work, review those separately — they are not the same as the general rules above.
Relying on parental consent to override the law. A parent's written permission does not exempt an employer from minimum age requirements, hour limits, or permit requirements. The law sets a floor that consent cannot move.
For a practical look at how Mellow runs payroll across six countries on one platform, the structure there illustrates how layered compliance — much like state-on-federal rules — can be handled systematically rather than case by case.
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