IN · State teen labor law
Indiana teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Indiana eliminated the work-permit requirement in 2021 in favor of an employer-registration system (YES). HEA 1093 (2025) loosened weekly caps for 16-17-year-olds to match federal flexibility while keeping daily and evening protections in place.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Indiana applies similar caps year-round, with small calendar adjustments shown below. Each age band below shows both calendars side-by-side — a distinction federal summaries and most state-comparison tables skip.
Ages 14–15
School year
When school is in session
- Hrs/day (school day)
- 3 hr
- Hrs/day (Sat / Sun / holiday)
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 18 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 19:00
Note: No work during school hours.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 40 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 21:00
Note: Summer hours apply June 1 through Labor Day; evening cutoff extends to 9:00 PM.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- 9 hr
- Max hours per week
- 40 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 22:00
Note: Under HEA 1093 (2025), 16-17-year-olds may work up to 9 hours/day and 40 hours/week during the school year. Up to midnight on nights not preceding a school day with parental consent.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 9 hr
- Max hours per week
- 48 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 00:00
Note: Up to midnight during the summer and school breaks. Weekly cap rises to 48 hours.
Work permit
Indiana does not require a state-issued work permit for minors.
Indiana repealed the work-permit (employment certificate) requirement in 2021. Employers now register minor employees with the Indiana Department of Labor's online Youth Employment System (YES) within 3 days of hire. Employers must also keep age verification (driver's license, certified birth certificate, or state ID) on file.
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Indiana, with the federal hour caps and the state’s stricter rules built in.
Restricted occupations
All federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17
Federal: 29 CFR Part 570
Operating power-driven meat-processing machines
Federal: HO-10
Roofing operations and work on or about a roof
Federal: HO-16
Door-to-door sales for minors under 16 without adult supervision
State: IC 20-33-3-31
Sale or service of alcohol for minors under 19 (servers) or 21 (bartenders)
State: IC 7.1-5-7-10
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Indiana hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Indiana-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Indiana requires a meal break for minor workers. Federal law (the FLSA) mandates no break at any age, so this state rule is the binding one for teens.
- Meal break
- 30 minutes
- Required after
- 6 consecutive hours
- Pay treatment
- Unpaid
Unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Indiana employers must give a worker under 18 one or two rest/meal breaks totaling at least 30 minutes if the minor is scheduled to work 6 or more consecutive hours. The 30 minutes may be split into two breaks, and the trigger is 6 hours, not 5. Indiana has no general adult break law, so this is the only break mandate.
See the federal breaks & meal-period reference for how the FLSA treats paid rest breaks vs unpaid meal periods, and why a mandatory teen break can only come from state law.
Statute: Ind. Code § 22-2-18.1 (Employment of Minors); Indiana DOL Youth Employment guidance
Pay & minimum wage
Indiana sets no independent minimum-wage rate, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act governs: a $7.25 standard minimum and a $4.25 youth minimum for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days. Confirm the current figures before relying on them.
- How minors are paid
- Federal minimum-wage rules
- State minimum wage
- No state rate
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Permitted
- Subminimum structure
- Federal $4.25 youth minimum for under-20s during the first 90 consecutive calendar days (29 USC § 206(g)) — Indiana writes the same youth rate into its own statute (Ind. Code § 22-2-2-4(j)), with an anti-displacement clause.
The federal minimum applies instead.
Indiana ties its standard minimum to the federal $7.25 rate and codifies the federal youth wage in its own statute — $4.25 for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days, certificate-free. Since the state rate matches federal and the youth provision mirrors the FLSA, the federal structure governs in practice.
Rates change yearly. This page describes the legal structure, not the current dollar amount. State and federal minimum wages are adjusted regularly — always verify the live figure with your state Department of Labor or the U.S. DOL before relying on it.
See the federal youth minimum wage reference for the $4.25 90-day rule, student / learner certificates, the tipped cash wage, and how a higher state minimum wins.
Agricultural work carve-out
Indiana largely mirrors the federal agricultural carve-out under FLSA § 213(c)(1). The rules below confirm what applies for farm work in this state.
Mirrors federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11.
Indiana exempts agricultural employment from the state youth-employment chapter (IC § 22-2-18.1, recodified from the former IC § 20-33-3 in 2020). The state's minimum age for agricultural work outside school hours is 12. No state employment certificate or registration is required for minors working as farm laborers; no age certification is required either. For minors aged 16-17, Indiana repealed the prohibition on handling hazardous materials in farm work in 2025, aligning the state with federal Ag HO floors. Special tractor-operation carve-out: a minor at least 14 years of age may operate a farm tractor if the minor is a 4-H member, is familiar with normal working hazards of agriculture, and has completed and passed a written examination from a 10-hour training program — mirroring the federal student-learner certificate provision under 29 CFR § 570.72(b). Federal Ag HO-1 through Ag HO-11 govern other hazardous farm tasks (tractors over 20 PTO HP, harvesting and planting machinery, timber operations, working from heights, etc.) — 16+ minimum off-parent farm; the federal parent-owned farm exemption applies (no minimum age on parental farm).
See the federal agricultural-work reference for the FLSA § 213(c) baseline, parental-exemption rules, and the Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 hazardous list.
Statute: Indiana Code § 22-2-18.1 (Employment of Minors — recodified 2020 from former IC § 20-33-3); IC § 22-2-18.1-2 (entities to which the chapter does not apply)
Family-business carve-out
Indiana largely mirrors the federal parent-owned-business carve-out under FLSA § 213(c)(1)(C). The rules below confirm what applies when a minor works for a parent-owned business in this state.
Federal hazardous orders always apply — the parent-owned-business carve-out never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work.
Indiana's 2020 recodification of the youth-employment law (IC § 22-2-18.1) preserved the parent-employed business exemption from the prior IC § 20-33-3 framework. Indiana also eliminated the state work-permit requirement for most minors in 2020 — replacing it with an employer-registration system through the Indiana Department of Labor's Youth Employment System (YES) portal, with carve-outs for parent-employed and casually-employed minors. For a parent-owned non-hazardous business, no state employer registration is required, and the state's hour caps (which under the 2020 recodification largely follow federal FLSA for 14-15-year-olds) do not apply. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 always apply — the exemption never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work. Indiana's state hazardous-occupations list carries through regardless of who employs the minor.
See the federal family-business reference for the FLSA § 213(c)(1)(C) baseline, ownership-structure rules, and the hazardous-occupations overlay that always applies.
Statute: Indiana Code § 22-2-18.1 (Employment of Minors, recodified 2020 from former IC § 20-33-3); IC § 22-2-18.1-2 (entities to which the chapter does not apply)
Entertainment-industry work
Indiana does not separately regulate child performers (film, TV, theater, modeling). The general age-band hour caps and work-permit rules above apply to entertainment-industry work for minors. Federal FLSA carves out actors and performers from the general 14-year minimum age (29 CFR § 570.122), but neither federal nor Indiana law imposes a blocked-trust requirement on a child performer’s earnings.
States with dedicated child-performer frameworks (Coogan-style trust accounts, on-set studio teachers, performer-specific permits) include California, New York, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Where these rules come from
State code: Indiana Code §§ 20-33-3-1 to 20-33-3-43 (Child Labor)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.in.gov/dol/wage-and-hour/youth-employment/
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Indiana Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Indiana?
- Yes — under Indiana law a 14-year-old can work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 07:00 and 19:00.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Indiana?
- When school is in session, Indiana allows a 15-year-old to work up to 3 hours per school day, up to 18 hours per week, between 07:00 and 19:00. During summer or school breaks the cap rises to up to 8 hours per school day, up to 40 hours per week, between 07:00 and 21:00.
- Does Indiana require a work permit for minors?
- Indiana does not require a state-issued work permit for minors. Employers still must follow federal FLSA rules on hour caps and restricted occupations.
- How many hours can a 16-year-old work during summer in Indiana?
- During summer or school breaks, Indiana allows a 16-year-old to work up to 9 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 06:00 and 00:00. Federal FLSA caps for 16- and 17-year-olds do not limit weekly hours, so the stricter state rule (if any) applies.
- Does a minor get a meal break in Indiana?
- Yes. Indiana requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break once a worker reaches 6 consecutive hours; the rule applies to minors. Federal law sets no break requirement at any age, so the state rule is the binding one. See the breaks section on this page for the exact age scope and the statute.
- Can a teen be paid less than minimum wage in Indiana?
- Yes, for a limited window. Indiana follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which allows a $4.25 youth minimum wage for workers under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days; after that the $7.25 federal minimum applies. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Indiana Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Indiana?
- Indiana prohibits minors from a number of hazardous occupations, including: all federal hazardous orders ho-1 through ho-17; operating power-driven meat-processing machines; roofing operations and work on or about a roof. The full list of federal hazardous orders (HO-1 through HO-17) also applies. See the Indiana Code §§ 20-33-3-1 to 20-33-3-43 (Child Labor) citation on this page for the statutory source.