FLSA · 29 USC § 213(c) · 29 CFR §§ 570.70 – 570.72
Federal agricultural-work rules for minors
Agricultural work is the single biggest carve-out in federal teen labor law. Minimum ages are lower, hour caps are minimal, and the parental-farm exemption removes almost every restriction for a child working on a farm owned or operated by their parent. Below is each federal agricultural rule family with the exact statute or CFR citation. State law often imposes additional restrictions — the stricter rule binds the employer.
Federal agricultural rule cards
Minimum age — agriculture (off-farm and on-farm)
FLSA sets a much lower minimum age for agricultural work than for non-agricultural jobs. The age depends on three things: whether the work is on a farm owned or operated by the minor's parent, whether the work is during school hours, and whether the task is on the federal agricultural hazardous-orders list.
- On a farm owned/operated by the minor's parent — non-hazardous
- No federal minimum age
- On a farm owned/operated by the minor's parent — hazardous
- No federal minimum age (parental exemption applies even to Ag HOs)
- Off-farm, non-hazardous, outside school hours, with parental consent
- 12 and 13 years old
- Off-farm, non-hazardous, outside school hours
- 14+ (no parental consent needed)
- Off-farm, hazardous (any of Ag HO-1 through Ag HO-11)
- 16+
- Local hand-harvest of short-season crops (limited waiver)
- 10 and 11 with DOL-issued waiver to the employer
Note: The local hand-harvest waiver requires the employer (not the family) to apply to the DOL Wage & Hour Division for a short-season crop waiver; it is rarely granted under modern enforcement.
Citation
29 USC § 213(c); 29 CFR §§ 570.2(b), 570.70 – 570.72
Hour limits — agriculture
FLSA imposes one core hour rule for agricultural work: minors under 16 may not work during school hours. There are no federal daily, weekly, or evening hour caps for agricultural work outside school hours. Many states impose their own daily and weekly limits on minors working in agriculture — check the state page.
- During school hours, minors under 16
- Prohibited
- Outside school hours, minors under 16
- No federal daily/weekly cap
- Minors 16 and older
- No federal hour limits in agriculture
- Time of day
- No federal evening cutoff for agricultural work
Note: The school-hours prohibition applies wherever the minor's school is in session that day. Summer, winter break, and weekends are all 'outside school hours' for FLSA agricultural purposes.
Citation
29 CFR § 570.123
Agricultural hazardous orders (Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11)
A separate hazardous-orders list applies to agriculture. Eleven categories of farm work are off-limits to minors under 16, even outside school hours and even with parental consent — unless the minor is working on a farm owned or operated by the parent (in which case all Ag HOs are exempt).
- Operating a tractor of over 20 PTO horsepower
- Ag HO-1 — 16+
- Operating most power-driven farm machinery (combines, hay balers, etc.)
- Ag HO-2 — 16+
- Operating power-driven non-stationary equipment (forklifts, loaders)
- Ag HO-3 — 16+
- Working in a yard, pen, or stall with a breeding bull, boar, or cow with newborn
- Ag HO-4 — 16+
- Felling, bucking, skidding, loading, or unloading timber > 6 inches diameter
- Ag HO-5 — 16+
- Working from a ladder/scaffold over 20 feet up
- Ag HO-6 — 16+
- Driving a bus, truck, or auto for transporting passengers or as helper
- Ag HO-7 — 16+
- Working inside a fruit/forage/grain storage facility designed to retain an oxygen-deficient atmosphere
- Ag HO-8 — 16+
- Handling/applying agricultural chemicals classified Category I or II toxicity
- Ag HO-9 — 16+
- Handling/using blasting agents (dynamite, ammonium nitrate)
- Ag HO-10 — 16+
- Transporting/handling/applying anhydrous ammonia
- Ag HO-11 — 16+
Note: 14- and 15-year-olds may obtain a Student-Learner or 4-H/Vocational Agriculture certificate that exempts them from specific Ag HOs (typically Ag HO-1 through Ag HO-6) when working under formal training. The employer applies through the state cooperative extension or vocational program.
Citation
29 CFR § 570.71
Parent-owned farm exemption
The single largest federal carve-out: a minor of any age may work in any capacity, including hazardous tasks, on a farm owned or operated by the minor's parent (or by someone standing in place of the parent). This exemption is what makes most multigenerational family-farm operations possible under federal law.
- Minimum age on parent-owned farm
- None
- Federal agricultural hazardous orders apply?
- No (parental exemption preempts all Ag HOs)
- School-hours prohibition applies?
- No (work-during-school-hours rule does not apply to parent-owned farm work)
- Standing-in-place-of-parent qualifies?
- Yes — legal guardian, custodial relative
- State law may still apply
- States may impose stricter rules even on parent-owned farms
Note: This is a federal exemption only. Some states do not recognize the full parental exemption (e.g., they still impose hazardous-task rules on minors under a certain age regardless of farm ownership). Always check the state page.
Citation
29 USC § 213(c)(1)(A); 29 CFR § 570.123
Agriculture vs. non-agricultural work — same teen, different rules
A teen who works on a farm in the morning and at a non-agricultural job in the afternoon is governed by two completely different rule sets. Hours worked in agriculture do not count toward the FLSA non-agricultural daily/weekly caps — and vice versa. The two rule sets do not compound.
- Hours in agriculture
- No federal daily/weekly cap (under 16: no school-hour work)
- Hours in non-agricultural job (same teen)
- FLSA non-ag caps apply separately (3/day school, 18/week school for 14-15)
- Combined total across both
- Not capped by FLSA, but state law may aggregate
- Permit requirement
- Federal: none. State: may differ for ag vs non-ag work
Note: Several states aggregate hours across all employers including farm and non-farm — California, New York, and a few others. The state page lists the aggregation rule where it applies.
Citation
29 CFR §§ 570.122, 570.123
Federal floor, stricter states
FLSA agricultural rules are the federal floor. States are free to impose stricter rules — lower minimum ages for hazardous tasks, daily or weekly hour caps that federal law omits, permit requirements that federal law does not impose. The stricter rule binds the employer.
- Default conflict rule
- Stricter law applies (29 USC § 218(a))
- States with stricter ag minimum age
- A handful (e.g., requiring 14 for off-farm ag where federal allows 12-13)
- States with weekly ag hour caps
- About a dozen impose ag-specific weekly caps that federal omits
- Permit / work certificate required
- Some states require an agricultural permit; federal does not
Note: Teenwork's per-state pages cover non-agricultural rules. For state-level agricultural specifics, consult the state Department of Labor link on each state page.
Citation
29 USC § 218(a); per-state labor codes