MD · State teen labor law
Maryland teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Maryland requires an online job-specific work permit for every minor under 18. The state caps combined school + work at 12 hours per 24-hour period for 16-17-year-olds, with a mandatory 8 consecutive hours of rest — a unique 'sleep guarantee' not found in most states.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Maryland tightens daily and weekly limits while school is in session, then eases them during summer and school breaks. 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)
- 4 hr
- Hrs/day (Sat / Sun / holiday)
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 23 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 20:00
Note: Maryland allows up to 4 hours on a school day (1 hour more than the federal cap). 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 Memorial Day through Labor Day; evening cutoff extends to 9:00 PM.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- 12 hr
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Combined hours of work and school may not exceed 12 in any 24-hour period. Minors must have at least 8 consecutive non-work hours each day.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 12 hr
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Same 12-hours-in-24 and 8-hours-rest rules apply year-round.
Work permit
Maryland requires a work permit for minors aged 14–17.
The minor applies online at the Maryland Department of Labor portal with proof of age, an employer offer, and a parent or guardian's electronic signature. The permit is job-specific and emailed to the minor and employer. A new permit is required for each job.
Form: Maryland Work Permit (Form MW-1)
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Maryland, 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 18 without bonded supervisor
State: MD Code, Labor and Employment §3-211
Selling alcoholic beverages or working in a bar (under 18)
State: MD Code, Alcoholic Beverages §6-307
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Maryland hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Maryland-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Maryland 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
- 5 consecutive hours
- Pay treatment
- Unpaid
Unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Under the child-labor subtitle, a minor (under 18 per § 3-201) may not work more than 5 consecutive hours without a nonworking period of at least 30 minutes. This is the minor-specific rule; the separate Healthy Retail Employee Act (§ 3-710) covers retail establishments and is not this provision. The break is unpaid, and Maryland has no general adult meal-break law.
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: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-210
Pay & minimum wage
Maryland lets some teens, or inexperienced first-job and trainee workers, be paid below the standard state minimum wage. The structure below is stable, but the dollar amount changes almost every year — confirm the current figure with the Maryland Department of Labor.
- How minors are paid
- Youth / training subminimum allowed
- State minimum wage
- Set by state law
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Permitted
- Subminimum structure
- An employer may pay a worker under 18 a wage equal to 85% of the state minimum — a general statutory youth rate that needs no certificate and is not time-limited. It applies for the whole time the worker is under 18 and ends at 18.
Maryland law expressly lets any employee under 18 be paid 85% of the state minimum wage — certificate-free and available regardless of experience or tenure — so a first-job teen plainly falls under it. Once the worker turns 18 the full minimum applies.
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.
Statute: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-413(d)
Agricultural work carve-out
Maryland 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.
Maryland's child-labor act is largely silent on commercial agricultural minor employment — the state imposes no specific age threshold beyond the federal § 213(c) floor and no daily/weekly hour cap on minors in agriculture. Maryland's general work-permit requirement under § 3-205 does NOT apply to most agricultural employment (employment certificate is not required for ag work). The federal floor governs: 14+ off-farm in non-hazardous ag outside school hours; 12-13 with written parental consent or on the same farm where a parent is employed; under-12 only on farms not subject to FLSA minimum-wage rules. § 3-415 carries a wage exemption for hand-harvest laborers under 17 employed on the same farm as a parent or guardian and paid at the same piece-rate as adult workers. The parent-owned-farm exemption mirrors the federal § 213(c)(1) carve-out. Federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 govern at 16+ off the family 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: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-201 to 3-217 (state largely silent on agriculture; § 3-415 hand-harvest wage exemption); Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-204 ("employee" definition excludes certain ag categories)
Family-business carve-out
Maryland narrows the federal parent-owned-business carve-out — the rules below apply when a minor works for a parent-owned non-agricultural business in this state.
Federal hazardous orders always apply — the parent-owned-business carve-out never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work.
Maryland is one of the strictest states on the federal parent-owned-business exemption: state law requires an online job-specific work permit for every minor under 18 in non-agricultural employment, and the act's exemption list does NOT carve out parent-owned businesses. A minor working in a parent-owned restaurant, retail store, mechanical shop, or office must obtain the work permit through Maryland's online portal and is subject to the state's distinctive 'sleep guarantee' — 16-17-year-olds may work no more than 12 hours combined school+work in any 24-hour period, with 8 consecutive hours of rest required. The agricultural carve-out at § 3-204 does not extend to non-ag family businesses. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 always apply, and parent-owned manufacturing or mining employment for under-16 remains barred by federal law. The practical effect is that Maryland preempts the federal § 213(c)(1)(C) administrative carve-out under § 218(a) by imposing the universal work permit and hour-cap framework regardless of parent ownership.
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: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-205 (universal under-18 work permit), §§ 3-210 to 3-211 (hour caps and rest guarantee); narrowly drawn exemption list does not include parent-owned non-agricultural businesses
Entertainment-industry work
Maryland 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 Maryland 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: Maryland Code, Labor and Employment §§ 3-201 to 3-218
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wages/empm.shtml
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Maryland Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Maryland?
- Yes — under Maryland law a 14-year-old can work up to 4 hours per school day, up to 23 hours per week, between 07:00 and 20:00. A Maryland work permit is required.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Maryland?
- When school is in session, Maryland allows a 15-year-old to work up to 4 hours per school day, up to 23 hours per week, between 07:00 and 20:00. 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 Maryland require a work permit for minors?
- Yes — Maryland requires a work permit for minors aged 14-17 (form: Maryland Work Permit (Form MW-1)). The minor applies online at the Maryland Department of Labor portal with proof of age, an employer offer, and a parent or guardian's electronic signature. The permit is job-specific and emailed to the minor and employer. A new permit is required for each job.
- How many hours can a 16-year-old work during summer in Maryland?
- During summer or school breaks, Maryland allows a 16-year-old to work up to 12 hours per school day. 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 Maryland?
- Yes. Maryland requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break once a worker reaches 5 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 Maryland?
- Sometimes. Maryland lets some teens, or inexperienced first-job and trainee workers, be paid below the standard state minimum wage without a special certificate. An employer may pay a worker under 18 a wage equal to 85% of the state minimum — a general statutory youth rate that needs no certificate and is not time-limited. It applies for the whole time the worker is under 18 and ends at 18. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Maryland Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Maryland?
- Maryland 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 Maryland Code, Labor and Employment §§ 3-201 to 3-218 citation on this page for the statutory source.