NM · State teen labor law
New Mexico teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
New Mexico requires an online Age Certificate for minors 14-15 and caps 16-17-year-olds at 44 hours per school week. Federal FLSA caps apply to 14-15-year-olds.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
New Mexico 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)
- 3 hr
- Hrs/day (Sat / Sun / holiday)
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 18 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 19:00
Note: Mirrors federal FLSA. 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
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 44 hr
- Time window
- 05:00 – 00:00
Note: Daily cap of 8 hours and weekly cap of 44 hours during the school year.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 48 hr
- Time window
- 05:00 – 00:00
Note: Summer cap rises to 48 hours.
Work permit
New Mexico requires a work permit for minors aged 14–15.
Minors 14-15 apply for an Age Certificate through the NM Department of Workforce Solutions online portal. The minor provides proof of age and parental consent; the certificate is issued electronically and kept on file by the employer. 16- and 17-year-olds do not need a certificate.
Form: New Mexico Age Certificate
New Mexico work-permit reference (official source) →
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in New Mexico, 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: NMSA §50-6-3
Sale or service of alcohol for minors under 19
State: NMSA §60-7B-1
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the New Mexico hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus New Mexico-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
New Mexico has no verified state law requiring a meal or rest break for minors, so the federal floor applies: the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require employers to give a meal or rest break at any age. An employer can legally schedule a teen for a full shift without one. If a short break of 5–20 minutes is given it must be paid; a bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Confirm with the New Mexico Department of Labor before relying on a break, and see the federal breaks & meal-period reference for the FLSA paid-vs-unpaid rules.
Pay & minimum wage
New Mexico sets its own minimum wage and minors generally earn the full rate — there is no general youth subminimum a teen can be paid. The structure is stable; the dollar amount changes almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the New Mexico Department of Labor.
- How minors are paid
- Full state minimum
- State minimum wage
- Set by state law
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Not permitted
A teen earns the full minimum; any lower rate needs a special DOL certificate.
New Mexico's Minimum Wage Act (NMSA § 50-4-22) sets a state minimum well above the federal $7.25. It contains no certificate-free general youth, training, learner, or opportunity wage. The separate sub-minimum rate that formerly applied to secondary-school students / persons under 18 was eliminated by the 2019–2021 amendments, so all covered employees regardless of age now earn the full state minimum. Apprentice and learner treatment is handled outside the Minimum Wage Act and any below-minimum learner/apprentice path is not a certificate-free general teen rate.
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
New Mexico 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.
New Mexico applies its Age Certificate requirement to commercial agricultural work for minors under 16, but otherwise leaves the daily/weekly hour cap and minimum age outside school hours to the federal § 213(c) floor. During school hours, the minimum age for ag work is 16 (or 14 in hardship cases certified by the Children, Youth and Families Department); outside school hours, no state age restriction applies (federal floor governs). The federal floor: 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. The standard federal § 213(c)(1) parent-owned-farm exemption applies — minors of any age may work on their parent's farm. Federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11 govern at 16+ off the family farm, with the federal student-learner and 4-H tractor-certification carve-outs at 14-15.
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: NMSA 1978 §§ 50-6-1 to 50-6-19 (Employment of Children; state requires Age Certificate for under-16 in commercial ag)
Family-business carve-out
New Mexico 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.
New Mexico's Employment of Children Act carries the federal parent-employed exemption forward. The state's online Age Certificate requirement for 14-15-year-olds and the 44-hour school-week cap on 16-17-year-olds do not separately reach minors working in a parent-owned non-hazardous business — federal § 213(c)(1)(C) governs the parent-employed framework, and NM's general state restrictions apply to non-family-business employment. Entertainment-industry minors are governed separately under the state's child-performer trust-account provisions — see the Entertainment section on this page. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 always apply (no parent-owned-business carve-out exists for them), and parent-owned manufacturing or mining employment for under-16 remains barred by federal law regardless of parent ownership. Verify the specific business context with the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions before relying on the carve-out.
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: NMSA 1978 §§ 50-6-1 to 50-6-19 (Employment of Children — parent-employed exemption framework); federal mirror of 29 USC § 213(c)(1)(C)
Entertainment-industry carve-out
Child performers in film, TV, theater, and modeling are regulated separately from general teen employment. These rules override the general age-band hour caps above when a minor is working on set or on stage.
Child Performer Authorization (variance from standard rules)
Issued by: New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions
Coogan-style blocked trust set up by parent or guardian.
New Mexico requires 15% of a child performer's gross earnings from in-state motion-picture, TV, or theatrical production work to be deposited in a blocked trust account (Coogan-equivalent), accessible to the minor at age 18. The Department of Workforce Solutions may issue a written authorization for hours exceeding the standard 14-15-year-old daily and weekly caps when a minor is engaged in entertainment-industry work, conditioned on continued schooling. New Mexico does not statutorily mandate a certified studio teacher, though productions filming during compulsory-attendance hours generally employ one. Verify current trust-account procedure and authorization requirements with the NM Department of Workforce Solutions before production starts.
Statute: NMSA 1978 §§ 50-6-1 to 50-6-19 (Employment of Children); New Mexico child performer trust account provisions
Where these rules come from
State code: New Mexico Statutes Annotated §§ 50-6-1 to 50-6-19 (Employment of Children)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Labor-Relations/Child-Labor
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the New Mexico Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in New Mexico?
- Yes — under New Mexico 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. A New Mexico work permit is required.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in New Mexico?
- When school is in session, New Mexico 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 New Mexico require a work permit for minors?
- Yes — New Mexico requires a work permit for minors aged 14-15 (form: New Mexico Age Certificate). Minors 14-15 apply for an Age Certificate through the NM Department of Workforce Solutions online portal. The minor provides proof of age and parental consent; the certificate is issued electronically and kept on file by the employer. 16- and 17-year-olds do not need a certificate.
- How many hours can a 16-year-old work during summer in New Mexico?
- During summer or school breaks, New Mexico allows a 16-year-old to work up to 8 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 05:00 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.
- Can a teen be paid less than minimum wage in New Mexico?
- Generally no. New Mexico sets its own minimum wage and minors earn the full rate — there is no general youth subminimum, and any below-minimum rate requires a special DOL certificate. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the New Mexico Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in New Mexico?
- New Mexico 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 New Mexico Statutes Annotated §§ 50-6-1 to 50-6-19 (Employment of Children) citation on this page for the statutory source.