Federal teen labor law
Federal rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets the nationwide floor for teen work — minimum ages, hour caps for 14- and 15-year-olds, the list of hazardous occupations off-limits to anyone under 18, and the narrow exemptions for family businesses, newspaper delivery, performers, and agriculture. States build on this floor, and the stricter rule always wins. The two pages below break the federal rules down by family.
Federal reference pages
29 USC §§ 203, 212 · 29 CFR Part 570
FLSA child-labor quick reference
Plain-English cards for every Fair Labor Standards Act rule family that governs teen work — with exact statute and CFR citations.
- Minimum working age (14 non-ag, 16 hazardous ag, 18 hazardous non-ag)
- Hour caps for 14- and 15-year-olds — school year vs summer
- Carve-outs: family business, newspaper delivery, performers, agriculture
- How federal floors interact with stricter state rules
- Enforcement and 2025 inflation-adjusted civil penalties
Read the flsa child-labor quick reference→
29 CFR Part 570 Subpart E (§§ 570.51 – 570.68)
Hazardous orders HO-1 to HO-17
Every federal hazardous-occupations order in plain English — minimum age, narrow apprentice carve-outs, example jobs, and cross-references to the states that explicitly cite each order.
- All 17 orders summarized with concrete example jobs
- Apprentice and student-learner exceptions called out where they apply
- Per-state cross-references for every HO
- State-only restrictions that go beyond the federal floor
Read the hazardous orders ho-1 to ho-17→
29 USC § 213(c) · 29 CFR §§ 570.70 – 570.72
Agricultural-work carve-out
Federal agricultural-work rules for minors — separately regulated from non-ag work with substantially lower minimum ages, minimal hour caps, and a sweeping parent-owned farm exemption.
- Minimum age: 12 (off-farm with parental consent), 14+ unrestricted, 16+ hazardous
- Hour caps: only the school-hours rule for under-16
- Agricultural hazardous orders Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11
- Parent-owned farm exemption: no federal age limit at all
- How federal ag rules interact with stricter state agricultural law
Read the agricultural-work carve-out→
Federal alone is not enough.
About 30 states require a work permit federal law does not. Many cap 16- and 17-year-olds' school-night hours where federal law sets no limit. Some add restricted occupations beyond the federal HO list. The rule that actually applies to a teen and an employer is the stricter of federal and the state where the work happens.