How state teen labor laws have changed since 2022

Earnings trust and a right to delete for minors featured in monetized digital content

Colorado added protections for minors featured in monetized online content. A creator who regularly features a minor in paid content must set aside a share of the earnings in a trust the child can claim as an adult, keep records, and honor a takedown request — and the protections come with a private right to sue.

What changed

• A content creator who features a minor in at least 30% of their compensated content over a 30-day span (once the earnings cross a statutory threshold) must deposit a share of the gross earnings from that content into a trust preserved for the minor until adulthood.
• Teens 14 and older who create and publish their own content keep 100% of what they earn; incidental, unpaid appearances are not covered.
• Creators must keep records of each minor's featured time, the compensation, and age verification.
• A person featured as an identifiable minor in content posted on or after the effective date may later demand the post be deleted, or their identifying information removed.
• A minor (or their representative) may sue for actual and punitive damages plus attorney fees if the earnings are not set aside.

Oregon's minor-hour rules pinned to the federal FLSA floor, with room to go stricter

Running against the national loosening trend, Oregon wrote the federal child-labor hour limits into its own law as a floor. The state's rules on how many hours a minor may work can no longer fall below the FLSA standard in effect on January 1, 2026 — and Oregon's labor bureau may set stricter limits, reversing an older rule that had kept the state from going beyond the federal level.

What changed

• Rewrote ORS 653.307 so Oregon's rules on the total hours a minor may work may not be less restrictive than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as in effect on January 1, 2026 — pinning the federal floor into state law even if the federal standard is later rolled back.
• Reversed the statute's prior effect: it used to act as a ceiling that kept Oregon from adopting minor-hour limits stricter than the FLSA. The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) may now adopt more protective limits when needed to conform to federal or state changes that increase protections for minors.
• Did not by itself change the hours minors may currently work — it sets the floor and the rulemaking authority; Oregon's existing minor-employment hour rules and the employer-applied annual employment certificate are unchanged.
• Takes effect January 1, 2027. The Economic Policy Institute identified Oregon as the only state to enact a law strengthening child-labor protections in the 2026 legislative session.

A lower “youth minimum wage” for 14- and 15-year-olds, below the state minimum

Nebraska created a separate, lower minimum wage for its youngest workers. Employers may now pay a 14- or 15-year-old a “youth minimum wage” set below the regular state minimum, and may pay a “training wage” to new 16- and 17-year-old hires — and the law slows the voter-approved annual increases in the general minimum wage. The hour, permit, and hazardous-job rules for minors are unchanged.

What changed

• Created a “youth minimum wage” employers may pay workers who are at least 14 but under 16 (and not emancipated) — set at $13.50/hour at enactment, below the $15.00 general state minimum, and rising only 1.5% every five years starting January 1, 2030.
• Set a “training wage” of $13.50/hour for new hires who are at least 16 but under 18 (not seasonal, migrant, or emancipated) through December 31, 2026, then rising 1.5% a year from January 1, 2027.
• Capped the voter-approved general minimum-wage increases: the 2026 rate stays $15.00, and from January 1, 2027 the general minimum rises 1.75% a year rather than tracking the cost of living that 59% of voters approved in 2022.
• Did not change the hours minors may work, the under-16 hour limits, the work-permit / employment-certificate rules, or the hazardous-occupation bans — only what a teen may be paid. (Separate from Nebraska's 2024 law that raised child-labor penalties.)

Earnings-trust protection for minors featured in monetized online content

Tennessee added protections for the money a minor earns from monetized online content. An adult who regularly features their own child in paid videos must now set aside part of the earnings in a trust the child can claim at 18, keep records, and honor a takedown request — protections a contract or waiver cannot sign away.

What changed

• An adult content creator who features a minor in at least 30% of their compensated content (once earnings cross a set statutory threshold) must deposit a proportional share of the gross earnings into a trust preserved for the minor and released at 18.
• Teens 14–17 who produce their own monetized content keep 100% of what they earn; incidental, unpaid appearances are not covered.
• Creators must keep records of the minor's featured time and pay until the minor turns 21, and a minor may later demand that content featuring them be removed from the platform.
• The protections cannot be waived by contract, and a minor (or their representative) may sue for civil remedies if the earnings are not set aside.

Earnings trust, record-keeping, and content-deletion rights for minors featured in monetized content

Arkansas added protections for minors featured in a parent or guardian's monetized online content. Once a family channel that regularly features a child crosses set per-view and annual-earnings thresholds, the adult creator must set aside a share of the earnings in a trust the child can claim at 18, keep records, and honor a request to take the content down. (Separate from Arkansas's 2023 law that dropped the under-16 work permit.)

What changed

• Applies to a content creator — a parent or legal guardian — who makes compensated image or video content (vlogs, podcasts, streams, social posts) that features their own minor child.
• Coverage is triggered once the minor is featured in at least 30% of the creator's compensated content over a 30-day period and the content crosses the per-view and annual-earnings thresholds set in the statute.
• A covered creator must set aside a proportional share of the gross earnings in a trust account preserved for the minor and accessible when the minor turns 18.
• The creator must keep detailed records of the minor's involvement and the related earnings until the minor turns 21.
• Splits deletion duties: platforms must provide a way to request that qualifying content be taken down, and the content creator must delete content featuring the minor on a valid request.

Much bigger penalties for child-labor violations and a forced timeout on hiring minors

Running against the loosening trend, Washington sharply raised the penalties for child-labor violations and gave its labor department the duty to bar an employer from hiring any minor after serious or repeated violations. It layers tougher enforcement on top of the state's existing hour and permit rules without changing them.

What changed

• Set tiered minimum civil penalties for child-labor violations — from a few hundred dollars for paperwork or hours violations up to a $71,000 minimum for any violation that seriously injures or kills a minor — with the amounts adjusted for inflation every two years starting July 1, 2027.
• Requires the Department of Labor & Industries to revoke an employer's permit to employ minors for at least 12 months after three or more serious, willful, or repeat violations within 24 months, or after a single violation that causes serious harm or death.
• Bars a contractor whose minor-work permit has been revoked from bidding on public-works projects.
• Extends the same enforcement procedures and penalties to agricultural employers, and requires a worksite safety review before a minor can be approved for an otherwise-prohibited task.
• Did not change the hours minors may work, the night-work limits, or the parent/school authorization to employ a minor — those rules stay the same.

The state's teen-worker registration system (YES) is repealed

Indiana ended the Youth Employment System (YES) — the state database in which employers of five or more 14-to-17-year-olds had to register each minor they hired. As of July 2026 that registration and reporting is gone. The underlying limits on hours, permits, and hazardous work are unchanged, but the state no longer collects the data it used to monitor where minors are working.

What changed

• Employers that hire five or more minors aged 14-17 no longer have to register those workers, or file the ongoing updates, in the state's online Youth Employment System (YES).
• The civil penalty of up to $400 for each failure to register a minor in YES is removed.
• What did NOT change: the rules on how many hours minors may work, the federal hazardous-occupation bans, and the 30-minute break for workers under 18 all still apply — only the employer-registration/reporting layer was repealed.
• Supporters framed it as cutting employer paperwork; child-labor advocates objected that removing the database makes it harder for the state to monitor that minors' work is age-appropriate and safe.

New civil penalties for child-labor violations, indexed to inflation

Maryland gave its labor department a new civil-penalty tool for child-labor violations, on top of the existing criminal misdemeanor. Employers who illegally employ a minor now face per-violation civil fines that rise each year with inflation, with much higher fines for willful or repeated hazardous-employment violations.

What changed

• Created civil penalties for child-labor violations, assessed by the Maryland Department of Labor — a non-criminal enforcement path that did not exist before.
• Set sharply higher penalties for willful or repeated violations that involve employing a minor in hazardous or prohibited work.
• Indexed the penalty amounts to annual inflation beginning in 2027, so they keep pace over time.
• Layered these civil penalties on top of the pre-existing criminal misdemeanor for knowingly employing a minor unlawfully — an employer can face both.

14- and 15-year-old pro athletes can work past 11:30 p.m. when a game or travel runs late

New Jersey carved out a narrow exception to its night-work limit for the youngest professional athletes. A 14- or 15-year-old signed by a national sports association, league, or team may now work past 11:30 p.m. — but only when the day's work began before 11:30 p.m. and runs later because of return travel or a game delay, and only with a written permit from a parent or guardian. Every other limit on the hours and days minors may work is unchanged.

What changed

• A minor aged 14 or 15 employed as a professional athlete by a national sports association, league, or team may now work past 11:30 p.m. when that work is a continuation of a workday that began before 11:30 p.m. but ends later because of return travel or a match/game time delay.
• The late work requires a special written permit from the minor's parent or legal guardian.
• Before this change, those same young athletes could be employed only until 11:30 p.m.
• The exemption is narrow — it applies only to professional athletes signed by a national sports league or team, not to ordinary part-time or seasonal jobs. New Jersey's other limits on the hours and days minors may work are unchanged.

A lower weekly hour cap for under-16s and a school-night curfew for everyone under 19

Running against the loosening trend, Nevada tightened its rules for young workers. It cut the weekly hour cap for children under 16, barred almost all minors under 19 from working late on a school night, and lined up state enforcement with the federal child-labor standards.

What changed

• Children under 16 may now work no more than 40 hours in a week, down from the old 48-hour cap.
• No minor under 19 may work between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on a night before a school day — with carve-outs for emancipated minors, lifeguards, arcade workers, stage or theatrical performers, and farm work.
• The state labor commissioner must prepare an abstract of the child-labor laws, and employers must post it where workers can see it.
• Made a violation of the federal FLSA child-labor provisions also a violation of Nevada law, so the state can enforce the federal floor directly.

School work permits replaced by an employer-obtained age certificate

West Virginia stopped requiring 14- and 15-year-olds to get a work permit from their school. Instead, an employer must now obtain a state age certificate and keep the parent's written consent on file before hiring a younger teen.

What changed

• 14- and 15-year-olds no longer need a work permit issued by their county school superintendent.
• Before hiring a 14- or 15-year-old, the employer must obtain an age certificate from the state Commissioner of Labor (verified against a birth certificate) and keep the parent or guardian's written consent on file.
• Moves the paperwork off the family and the school and onto the employer.
• Did not change the hours a minor may work — those limits stay the same.

Children featured in monetized videos are treated as child labor, with an earnings trust

Virginia took the unusual step of folding kidfluencing into its child-labor law. A child under 16 who regularly appears in a creator's paid video content is now legally “engaged in the work of content creation,” and the adult creator must set aside a share of the earnings in a trust the child can claim at 18. (Separate from Virginia's 2024 law that raised child-labor penalties.)

What changed

• Defines a child under 16 who appears in paid video content as “engaged in the work of content creation” and places that work under Virginia's child-labor law (Title 40.1, Chapter 5) rather than treating it as a purely commercial matter.
• Coverage is triggered when, over a 30-day period, the child's likeness, name, or photograph appears in at least 30% of the creator's compensated video content and that content crosses the per-view / compensation threshold set in the statute.
• The content creator must set aside, in a trust for the child, a share of the gross earnings on the content featuring the child — at least half of the percentage of that content in which the child appears, split among multiple featured children.
• The trust must follow the Virginia Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, hold the funds for the child alone, and become available when the child turns 18 or is emancipated.
• The creator must keep records of the child's appearances and the related earnings; a child (or a parent or guardian) may sue to enforce the trust, with up to two years after the child turns 18 to bring the claim.

16- and 17-year-olds may now work in a licensed barbershop or cosmetology salon

Virginia carved an exception into its restricted-occupations rule for minors. A 16- or 17-year-old may now be employed in a licensed barbershop or cosmetology salon — but only as a registered apprentice, in an approved work-training program, or once they hold a barber or cosmetology license. (Separate from Virginia's 2025 kidfluencer-earnings law and its 2024 penalty increase.)

What changed

• Added an exception to the prohibition on employing a child in a barbershop or cosmetology salon: a minor 16 or older may now work in a licensed shop if they are (i) a registered apprentice, (ii) employed in an approved work-training program, or (iii) already licensed as a barber or cosmetologist by the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology.
• Before this change, Virginia's child-labor statute barred minors from this work outright.
• The exception is conditioned — it does not let an unsupervised, unlicensed minor take a salon job; it opens the door only through an apprenticeship, a training program, or licensure.
• Did not change the hours minors may work, the work-permit (employment certificate) rules, or the other restricted-occupation bans — only the barbershop / cosmetology carve-out.

Children under 14 keep all the earnings, with a trust, records to 21, and a deletion right

Minnesota wrote some of the country's most protective kidfluencer rules into its Child Labor Standards Act. A child under 14 keeps 100% of what the content they appear in earns, older minors get a share set aside in a trust until 18, creators must keep records until the minor turns 21, and a young person can later require the content to be deleted. (Separate from Minnesota's other 2024 law that added damages and anti-retaliation protections for young workers.)

What changed

• A child under 14 may not be put to the work of content creation, but if they are featured in monetized content they must receive 100% of the creator's compensation for the content they appear in (shared with any other featured minor).
• A minor aged 14–17 is “engaged in the work of content creation” when, over a 30-day period within a 12-month span, their likeness, name, or photograph appears in at least 30% of the creator's compensated video content and that content crosses the per-view / compensation threshold set in the statute.
• The creator must deposit the minor's share of the gross earnings into a trust held by a bank, corporate fiduciary, or trust company, available to the minor at 18 or upon emancipation.
• The creator must keep records — the minor's name and age, the compensation, total minutes of content, the minutes the minor was featured, and trust deposits — until the minor turns 21, and keep them readily accessible to the minor.
• A person featured as a minor may require content showing their likeness to be deleted from any platform once they are 13 or older; a minor may sue for damages, and the attorney general may also bring an enforcement action.

Higher penalties now, and working papers moving to a state online system

New York sharply raised the civil penalties for child-labor violations, effective immediately, and ordered a structural overhaul of its 'working papers' system. Over the next two years the state will move employment certificates off the schools and onto a state-run online portal with a statewide database of minor workers and their employers.

What changed

• Civil penalties for child-labor violations rose steeply, with the highest fines reserved for violations that injure or kill a minor — effective May 9, 2025.
• By May 9, 2027, the paper, school-district-issued working papers are replaced by a state Labor Department online portal that issues electronic employment certificates.
• Creates a statewide database of employed minors and their employers, plus an employer certification that each minor is in a legally permitted job.
• Removes some older exemptions and special certificates as part of the 2027 overhaul.

Earnings trust and a right to be deleted for kids featured in monetized content

Utah added protections for minors who appear in monetized online content and in entertainment. A family content creator who regularly features their own child — once the channel crosses an income threshold — must set aside a share of the earnings in a trust for the child, keep records, and honor a deletion request; child performers get a blocked earnings trust too.

What changed

• Created a new Part 5, 'Employment of Minors in Entertainment,' in the state labor code, defining content creators, performers, and the minors they feature.
• A content creator who features a 'market value compensated minor' — one who averages at least 30% of the creator's content over a year, where the creator earned at least $150,000 from social media that year — must set aside a share of the earnings, calculated by a statutory formula, in a trust the minor can claim as an adult.
• Requires a content creator to keep records of, and to tell a minor's parents about, content that features the minor; a performer's employer must deposit a percentage of the minor's pay into a trust.
• Gives a person featured as a minor a right to have the content deleted on request once they turn 18 — and social media platforms must offer a way to ask for it — plus a right to sue for damages and attorney fees.

Earnings trust and a right to be deleted for kids featured in monetized online content

Montana added protections for minors featured in monetized online video. A “vlogger” who regularly features a minor in paid content above a set threshold must now set aside a share of the earnings in a trust the child receives as an adult, and a minor featured in the content can demand it be permanently deleted. The law took effect on passage and applies back to content created on or after January 1, 2025.

What changed

• Defines a “vlogger” who must set aside earnings for a featured minor once two thresholds are met: the minor's likeness, name, or photograph appears in at least 30% of the vlogger's compensated content over a 30-day period, and the vlogger's compensation meets an amount the state sets by rule.
• Requires the share of the vlogger's gross compensation that is proportional to how much the minor is featured to be held in a trust, preserved for the minor and paid out when they turn 18 or are legally emancipated.
• Gives a minor who is featured in the content the right to demand its permanent deletion from the platforms where the vlogger shared it.
• Codified in Montana Code Annotated Title 30; effective on passage and approval and applied retroactively to content created on or after January 1, 2025.

Work permits move to the state, under-16 hours tightened, penalties raised

Against the loosening trend, Michigan overhauled its Youth Employment Standards Act to strengthen protections. It moves work-permit authority from local schools to a new statewide online system run by the state labor department, tightens the hours minors under 16 may work, and sharply raises the penalties for child-labor violations.

What changed

• Work permits move from local schools to a centralized online system run by the Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO); employers must register the business and each minor before hiring (this step takes effect October 2, 2026).
• 14- and 15-year-olds: tighter hours phase in March 31, 2026 — during the school year, work only outside school hours, up to 3 hours a day and 18 hours a week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (to 9 p.m. in summer, up to 40 hours a week).
• 16- and 17-year-olds: no waiver may let them work between midnight and 5 a.m. or in a hazardous job, and a parent can block a waiver request.
• Penalties rise steeply — up to $5,000 for a first violation, with felony exposure and fines up to $500,000 where a minor is seriously injured or killed.

Child-labor law fully rewritten, with much bigger penalties for violations

Illinois repealed its old child-labor statute and replaced it with the modern Child Labor Law of 2024. It keeps the work-permit requirement and hour limits for workers under 16, sharply raises the penalties for violations — with a multiplier when a minor is hurt or killed — updates the list of banned jobs, and adds protections for child performers and minors featured in monetized online content.

What changed

• Repealed the prior Child Labor Law of 2010 and replaced it with the Child Labor Law of 2024, modernizing the rules for workers under 16.
• Workers under 16: kept the employment certificate (work permit) requirement and capped hours at 8 in a 24-hour period, 18 hours a week when school is in session, and 40 hours a week when it is not.
• Raised the civil penalties for violations and added a multiplier when a violation causes a minor's illness, injury, or death — counting each day a violation continues as a separate offense; employers must now report to a minor's school if the minor is injured or killed at work.
• Updated the list of occupations minors may not hold, and set time-at-the-workplace limits, by age, for child performers in TV, film, and similar productions.
• Carried forward Illinois's first-in-the-nation 2023 protection (Public Act 103-0556) requiring a share of a 'kidfluencer's' earnings to be set aside in a trust for the minor.

All state hour limits removed for 16- and 17-year-olds

As of 2025, Indiana no longer caps how many hours, or how late, 16- and 17-year-olds can work — they may now work the same hours as adults. The change brings state law in line with federal law, which sets no hour limits for that age group.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds: all state daily-hour, weekly-hour, and night-work limits were repealed — they may now work adult hours, and parental permission is no longer required.
• This aligns Indiana with federal law, which sets no maximum-hours rules for 16- and 17-year-olds.
• 14- and 15-year-olds: may now work until 9 p.m. (was 7 p.m.) on a night before a school day during summer (June 1–Labor Day); their other caps stay the same.
• Kept: the 30-minute break still required for workers under 18 on longer shifts.

Coogan-style earnings protection extended to child influencers and family-vlog kids

California became one of the first states to protect the money minors earn online. Adults who feature their own child in monetized videos must now set aside a share of the earnings in a trust the child can claim at 18, and paid teen content creators get the same blocked-trust protection long given to child actors.

What changed

• SB 764 (Child Content Creator Rights Act): a family vlogger whose minor appears in at least 30% of their paid content must deposit a set share of the earnings into a trust preserved for the minor, keep records of the child's featured time and pay, and hand them over on request.
• AB 1880: California's decades-old Coogan Law — which already requires 15% of a child actor's gross earnings to go into a blocked trust — now also covers paid minor 'content creators' (vloggers, podcasters, streamers, influencers) working under a contract.
• A minor (or their representative) can sue for actual and punitive damages plus attorney's fees if the earnings are not set aside.
• Teens 14–17 who create their own content keep 100% of what they earn; incidental, unpaid appearances are exempt.
• Separately, AB 800 (2023) added a 'Workplace Readiness Week' and, from August 1, 2024, requires schools to give a minor a plain-language labor-rights document when signing a work permit.

Employers who audit for child labor must publish what they find

California added a child-labor transparency rule. An employer that voluntarily has a “social compliance audit” done to check whether children are working illegally in its operations must now publish the audit's child-labor findings and post a clear link to that report on its website. The law does not require anyone to run such an audit — but if they do, the results cannot stay private. (Separate from California's 2024 kidfluencer-earnings laws, SB 764 and AB 1880.)

What changed

• An employer that voluntarily conducts a “social compliance audit” — in whole or in part, to determine whether child labor is involved in its operations or practices — must post a clear and conspicuous link on its website to a report detailing the audit's child-labor findings.
• The report must state the date, time, and shift (day or night) of the audit; whether the employer did or did not engage in or support the use of child labor; copies of any written policies on child employees; whether the employer exposed children to unsafe or hazardous conditions; and whether any children worked outside school hours or during night hours.
• The report must also certify that the auditing company is not a government agency and is not authorized to verify compliance with labor or health-and-safety laws.
• The law does not require employers to conduct these audits — it only imposes the disclosure duty on those that choose to. It applies to all businesses employing workers in California.

Bigger penalties, anti-retaliation, and a damages remedy for minors

Colorado strengthened its Youth Employment Opportunity Act. A 2024 law replaced a token misdemeanor fine with much larger civil penalties plus damages payable to the affected minor, and added anti-retaliation protection; a companion 2023 law had already confirmed that an injured minor can sue in court rather than being limited to workers' compensation.

What changed

• Replaced the old small misdemeanor fine with civil penalties payable to the state, plus separate damages payable to the aggrieved minor (both indexed for inflation from 2026).
• Added a new anti-retaliation protection: a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if an employer takes adverse action within 90 days of a minor asserting their rights.
• Repealed the provision that made a parent who allowed illegal employment guilty of a misdemeanor, removing a disincentive to report.
• A 2023 companion law (HB 23-1196) confirmed workers' compensation is not the only remedy — an injured minor may also sue in tort.

New damages and anti-retaliation protections for young workers

Running against the loosening trend, Minnesota strengthened its child-labor law in 2024. A minor worked illegally can now recover extra damages, and employers may not retaliate against a young worker who asserts their rights.

What changed

• A minor worked in violation of the hour or hazardous-job limits can recover 'liquidated' damages — an extra amount equal to their pay for the hours worked illegally — on top of wages owed.
• Employers may not fire, discipline, or otherwise retaliate against a worker for asserting their rights under the Child Labor Standards Act.
• Civil penalties for violations remain up to $5,000 per violation; the law did not raise that cap.
• Part of a broader enforcement push: in late 2024 the state fined a meatpacker $2 million for illegally employing minors (an enforcement action, not part of this bill).

30-minute meal break dropped for 16- and 17-year-olds

Louisiana removed the state-required 30-minute meal break for workers who are 16 or 17. The break rule now applies only to minors under 16, so older teens can be scheduled for shifts of 5 hours or more with no required meal period.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds: the state no longer requires a 30-minute meal or rest break — they may now work a shift of 5 hours or more without one.
• 14- and 15-year-olds: unchanged — still entitled to at least a 30-minute meal period during any 5-hour work period.
• The statute was rewritten to cover only 'minors under sixteen' (it previously covered all minors under 18).
• Did not change how many hours, or how late, any minor may work — only the meal-break rule.

Stiffer penalties and new inspection power for child-labor violations

Running against the loosening trend, Nebraska strengthened child-labor enforcement in 2024. It raised the criminal penalty for illegally employing a child under 16 and gave the state labor department new power to inspect worksites and subpoena employer records when violations are suspected.

What changed

• Illegally employing a child under 16 is now a Class I misdemeanor (was Class II) — up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
• Department of Labor staff and attendance officers may visit worksites to check whether minors under 16 are working unlawfully.
• The Commissioner of Labor may subpoena records from any employer suspected of a child-labor violation.
• Did not change the permitted hours or age bands for minors — only penalties and enforcement.

Weekly hour cap on 16–17s made waivable; home-schoolers exempt

Florida loosened the work-hour rules for 16- and 17-year-olds. With a parent's, guardian's, or school's permission, a teen can now exceed the old 30-hour-a-week school-year cap, and home-schooled or virtual-school teens are fully exempt from the hour limits.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds: the 30-hour-per-week cap during the school year can now be waived by a parent, guardian, or the school superintendent — letting a teen work unlimited weekly hours with permission.
• 16- and 17-year-olds may now work more than 8 hours on a Sunday or holiday even when school meets the next day.
• 16- and 17-year-olds enrolled in a home-education or approved virtual-instruction program are fully exempt from the hour restrictions.
• Kept: no work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on a night before a school day. A further rollback (SB 918, 2025) that would have removed even this window did not become law.

Higher civil penalties for employers who break child-labor law

Against the loosening trend, Virginia raised the civil penalties an employer faces for violating the state's child-labor laws and ordered the labor department to launch a youth-employment education effort. It did not change which jobs minors may hold, their hours, or work-permit rules.

What changed

• The maximum civil penalty for a child-labor violation rose from $1,000 to $2,500 per violation, with a new $500 minimum.
• The penalty for a violation that causes a child's serious injury or death rose from $10,000 to $25,000 per violation.
• Directed the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a work group on educating young workers and employers about child-labor law.
• Did not change minimum work ages, permitted hours, restricted occupations, or work-permit requirements — it is an enforcement measure.

Maximum child-labor penalty raised tenfold, and the state can stack it on a federal fine

Oregon sharply raised the price of breaking its child-labor rules. The maximum civil penalty for unlawfully employing a minor rose from $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, and the state labor bureau may now impose its own penalty even when the U.S. Department of Labor has already fined the employer for the same conduct.

What changed

• Raised the maximum civil penalty for a child-labor violation from $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, for the minor-employment rules the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) enforces.
• Lets BOLI assess its own penalty even if the employer has already paid a U.S. Department of Labor penalty for the same violation — and repealed the old rule that made the state refund its penalty in that situation.
• Strengthens enforcement of the existing minor-employment rules without changing the hours minors may work or the employer-applied annual employment certificate.

School eligibility form for under-16s dropped, while child-labor penalties rise sharply

Alabama made two opposite-direction changes in 2024. One law removed the school-approved 'eligibility-to-work' form that 14- and 15-year-olds needed before taking a job; a second law sharply raised the civil penalties for child-labor violations and added felony charges when a violation seriously injures or kills a minor.

What changed

• SB 53 (Act 2024-352, effective June 1, 2024): the school-signed eligibility-to-work form for 14- and 15-year-olds was repealed — a parent now simply notifies the school of the employer's name, address, and phone, and the employer keeps a list of its minor workers. Schools keep the power to revoke, and the Class I work certificate is unchanged.
• SB 119 (Act 2024-285, effective Oct. 1, 2024): the second-tier civil penalty rose from $1,000–$5,000 to a mandatory $5,000–$10,000.
• SB 119 also created a new Class C felony — raised to Class B — when a child-labor violation causes the serious injury or death of a minor.
• Did not change the hours minors may work, the minimum work ages, or the restricted-occupation lists.

16- and 17-year-olds may take a hazardous job through a registered apprenticeship

North Dakota opened otherwise-banned hazardous jobs to older teens who are training for them. A minor at least 16 may now work in a hazardous occupation if they are in a registered apprenticeship or an approved career-and-technical-education student-learner program, with a parent's signature.

What changed

• A minor who is at least 16 may be employed in an otherwise-prohibited hazardous occupation if they are in a registered apprenticeship program or are a student-learner in an approved career and technical education program.
• A parent's or guardian's signature is required for the minor to take part as an apprentice or student-learner.
• Added as a new section of the state child-labor chapter; it did not change the hours minors may work.

Work permit and state age check dropped for under-16s

Arkansas stopped requiring children under 16 to get a state employment certificate (a 'work permit') before taking a job. That also removed the step where the state checked the child's age and collected a parent's written consent.

What changed

• Workers under 16 no longer need a state-issued employment certificate before starting a job.
• The state no longer verifies the child's age or collects a parent or guardian's written consent through that certificate — those decisions are left to families.
• Did not change how many hours under-16s may work, or which jobs are off-limits to them.
• A separate 2023 law (Act 687) raised the civil and criminal penalties for child-labor violations.

Longer hours for 14–15s and a hazardous-work waiver for 16–17s

Iowa broadly loosened its youth-employment rules — letting 14- and 15-year-olds work longer and later, opening new job types to them, and letting employers apply for waivers so 16- and 17-year-olds can do some otherwise-banned hazardous work as part of a school program.

What changed

• 14- and 15-year-olds can work up to 6 hours on a school day (was 4).
• 14–15 evening cutoff moved from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the school year, and from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. in summer.
• Employers can apply for a waiver to place 16- and 17-year-olds in some otherwise-prohibited hazardous jobs as part of an approved work-based-learning program.
• 16- and 17-year-olds may serve (but not sell at a bar) alcohol in restaurants with written parental consent.

15-year-olds allowed to work as youth-camp staff and lifeguards, with adult supervision

Connecticut opened two summer jobs to younger teens. A minor who is at least 15 may now be employed as a youth-camp staff member or as a lifeguard, as long as an adult supervises them — a narrow expansion of where 15-year-olds may work.

What changed

• A minor who has reached age 15 may now work as a staff member at a youth camp or as a lifeguard — roles that were not previously open to 15-year-olds in this way.
• Any 15-year-old hired for these roles must be supervised by a person who is at least 18 years old.
• The employer must obtain a certificate showing the minor is at least 15 — except when the minor is hired by a municipality for these roles, which is exempt from the certificate.
• Directed the Labor Commissioner to run a pilot allowing 15-year-olds in non-hazardous jobs at an amusement facility; the underlying hour limits for minors were not changed.

Higher summer hour caps and a single online working-papers system

New Jersey reworked its teen-labor rules ahead of summer 2023. It raised the summer hour caps for 16- and 17-year-olds and replaced the old school-issued paper 'working papers' with one free state-run online system.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds can work up to 50 hours a week and 10 hours a day during summer and school breaks (was 40 and 8).
• The old school-issued paper working papers were replaced by one free state-run online system at MyWorkingPapers.nj.gov — schools are no longer involved.
• Employers must now register before hiring anyone under 18.
• A required 30-minute meal break now applies after 6 continuous hours of work (was 5); a parent can opt a teen out of the latest hours.

16- and 17-year-olds allowed to work in some venues that mainly serve alcohol

Tennessee narrowed a long-standing ban that kept minors out of businesses making most of their money from alcohol. Now 16- and 17-year-olds may work in such a venue as long as they do not take or serve alcohol orders; the bar still applies to anyone under 16.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds may now work at an establishment that earns more than 25% of its gross receipts from alcohol, provided they do not take or serve orders for alcoholic beverages.
• Workers under 16 remain barred from those alcohol-focused venues.
• Did not change the hours minors may work or the hazardous-job bans — only where 16- and 17-year-olds may be employed.

Video-conference appearance for a minor's work permit made permanent

Pennsylvania made permanent a pandemic-era convenience for getting a minor's work permit. A student applying for a work permit may now appear before the school issuing officer by video conference or other electronic means instead of in person — a process change that does not alter who needs a permit or the hours a minor may work.

What changed

• A minor applying for a work permit may now appear before the school issuing officer by video conference or other electronic means, instead of being required to appear in person.
• This makes permanent an option first allowed only temporarily in March 2020 during the COVID-19 emergency, which had no lasting legal basis until this law.
• Pennsylvania still requires a work permit before a minor under 18 starts a job — the change is to how the applicant appears, not whether a permit is needed.
• Did not change the hours minors may work, the minimum work ages, or the list of prohibited occupations.

More school-week hours for 16–17s and night-work limits repealed

New Hampshire loosened its youth-employment rules in 2022. It set a flat 35-hour weekly cap for 16- and 17-year-olds who are enrolled in school (replacing a lower sliding scale), repealed the statutory night-work limits for that age group, and lowered to 14 the age for clearing tables where alcohol is served.

What changed

• 16- and 17-year-olds enrolled in school: a flat 35 hours per week when school is in session (the old tiered scale had capped them lower).
• 16- and 17-year-olds: the statutory night-work restrictions (RSA 276-A:13 and :14) were repealed — there is no longer a state latest-hour curfew for this age group.
• 16- and 17-year-olds during school vacations: unchanged at up to 48 hours per week and no more than 6 consecutive days.
• Lowered to 14 (from 15) the minimum age to clear tables and remove empty glasses where alcohol is served; 14- and 15-year-olds' hour limits were unchanged.

Teens must take a workers'-rights and safety class before getting a work permit; certificate of age dropped for 16- and 17-year-olds

Rhode Island added a worker-protection step to its permit process: before a minor can be issued a limited work permit, the minor must complete a short state course on workers' rights, workplace health and safety, and workers' compensation. Separately, the state labor department stopped requiring employers to collect a certificate of age for 16- and 17-year-olds as of July 1, 2023.

What changed

• Before a limited work permit is issued, the minor must certify to the Department of Labor and Training that they completed a DLT training program covering workers' rights, workplace health and safety, and workers' compensation (added by P.L. 2022, ch. 81 & 82, effective June 15, 2022).
• The training program is capped at three hours, must be available virtually, and its content, cost, and funding are set by DLT rules.
• The Special Limited Permit to Work still applies to 14- and 15-year-olds, obtained through the local school department along with the employer's intention-to-employ-a-minor form.
• As an administrative change effective July 1, 2023, the DLT no longer requires employers to collect a certificate of age for 16- and 17-year-olds — older teens now rely on employer-kept age verification, while the state's hour caps and 11:30 p.m. school-night curfew still apply.