OR · State teen labor law
Oregon teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Oregon uses an annual employer-applied Employment Certificate from BOLI rather than a per-minor permit. Unique features: 10-hour daily cap and 44-hour weekly cap (with mandatory time-and-a-half) on 16-17-year-olds, with no time-of-day curfew.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Oregon 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: No work during school hours.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 10 hr
- Max hours per week
- 40 hr
- Time window
- 07:00 – 21:00
Note: Oregon allows up to 10 hours per non-school day (vs. federal 8). Summer hours apply June 1 through Labor Day.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- 10 hr
- Max hours per week
- 44 hr
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Daily cap of 10 hours, weekly cap of 44 hours including overtime. Time-and-a-half required for hours over 40/week or 10/day.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 10 hr
- Max hours per week
- 44 hr
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Same 10/44 caps year-round. No state time-of-day restriction.
Work permit
Oregon requires a work permit for minors aged 14–17.
Oregon uses an employer-based permit: the employer applies online with BOLI for an annual Employment Certificate covering all minor employees at that worksite. The certificate must be renewed yearly. Individual minors do not apply, but the employer must keep age verification on file for each.
Form: Annual Employment Certificate to Employ Minors
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Oregon, 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: ORS 653.345
Working alone in a retail establishment for minors under 18
State: OAR 839-021-0210
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Oregon hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Oregon-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Oregon 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
- Paid rest break
- Required — in addition to the meal break
Unpaid when the teen is completely relieved of duty.
Paid 15-minute rest break for each 4-hour work segment (or major part) — longer than the 10-minute adult break.
Oregon's minor break rule (OAR 839-021-0072) is stricter than the adult rule. Every employer must give each minor a duty-free, unpaid meal period of at least 30 minutes for each work period of 6 to 8 hours, plus a paid rest break of at least 15 minutes for each 4-hour segment worked — longer than the 10-minute break adults get. Crucially, the limited meal-period exemption in the general rule (OAR 839-020-0050(3)) does not apply to minors under 16, so under-16 workers must always receive the full meal period. The 15-minute paid rest applies to all minors under 18.
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.
Pay & minimum wage
Oregon 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 Oregon Department of Labor.
- How minors are paid
- Full state minimum
- State minimum wage
- Set by state law
- Below-minimum youth rate
- Not permitted
- Subminimum structure
- No general youth, training, or opportunity subminimum exists. Minors earn the full applicable Oregon minimum wage. The only below-minimum path is the student-learner program under ORS 653.070, which permits at least 75% of the state minimum ONLY under a special certificate issued by the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) — it is not available to an ordinary first-job teen and is gated by certificate, occupation, and hours conditions. (Oregon also ended subminimum wages for workers with disabilities effective July 1, 2023.)
A teen earns the full minimum; any lower rate needs a special DOL certificate.
Oregon sets a regional indexed state minimum well above the federal $7.25 (ORS 653.025), with no general youth/training subminimum. The student-learner 75%-of-minimum rate under ORS 653.070 requires a special BOLI certificate and satisfies conditions (necessary to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities, an occupation requiring a substantial learning period, no depression of experienced-worker wages). A certificate-only path does not make the state subminimum-allowed because an ordinary teen cannot be paid under it.
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: ORS 653.025 (state minimum wage); ORS 653.070 (student-learner special wage, certificate-gated)
Agricultural work carve-out
Oregon narrows the federal agricultural carve-out — the rules below override the federal floor when a minor works on a farm in this state.
Mirrors federal Ag HO-1 to Ag HO-11.
Oregon allows farm work for minors at younger ages than the general 14-year minimum: 12–13-year-olds may work in non-hazardous ag jobs with written parental consent (or if a parent works the same farm), and 9–11-year-olds may hand-harvest berries or beans on small-farm operations with parental consent. A federal U.S. DOL waiver is available for 10–11-year-olds to hand-harvest short-season crops (June 1 – October 15, max 8 weeks). Hour caps apply: under-16 in agriculture are limited to 3 hours per school day / 25 hours per school week, and up to 10 hours per day during school vacations. Hazardous agricultural occupations (operating tractors above 20 PTO horsepower, feed mills, flour mills, grain warehouses, power-driven machinery) require minimum age 16, mirroring the federal Ag HO floor. Minors of any age may work in any occupation on a farm owned or operated by their parents (parental exemption mirrors the federal § 213(c) carve-out).
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: Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) minor-worker rules; ORS Chapter 653
Family-business carve-out
Oregon 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.
Oregon's Employment of Minors framework administered by BOLI carries the federal parent-employed exemption forward. Oregon's distinctive annual employer-applied Employment Certificate (which covers all minors at a worksite rather than each minor individually) does not separately reach parent-owned non-hazardous businesses — federal § 213(c)(1)(C) governs the parent-employed framework. Oregon's distinctive 10-hour daily cap and 44-hour weekly cap on 16-17-year-olds (with mandatory time-and-a-half) apply to non-family-business employment. 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 Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries 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: ORS §§ 653.305-653.370 (Oregon Employment of Minors); BOLI minor-worker rules; federal mirror of 29 USC § 213(c)(1)(C)
Entertainment-industry work
Oregon 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 Oregon 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: Oregon Revised Statutes §§ 653.305-653.370 (Employment of Minors)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.oregon.gov/boli/employers/Pages/minor-workers.aspx
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Oregon Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Oregon?
- Yes — under Oregon 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 Oregon work permit is required.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Oregon?
- When school is in session, Oregon 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 10 hours per school day, up to 40 hours per week, between 07:00 and 21:00.
- Does Oregon require a work permit for minors?
- Yes — Oregon requires a work permit for minors aged 14-17 (form: Annual Employment Certificate to Employ Minors). Oregon uses an employer-based permit: the employer applies online with BOLI for an annual Employment Certificate covering all minor employees at that worksite. The certificate must be renewed yearly. Individual minors do not apply, but the employer must keep age verification on file for each.
- How many hours can a 16-year-old work during summer in Oregon?
- During summer or school breaks, Oregon allows a 16-year-old to work up to 10 hours per school day, up to 44 hours per week. 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 Oregon?
- Yes. Oregon requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break once a worker reaches 6 consecutive hours; the rule applies to minors. Oregon also requires a separate paid rest break on top of the meal break. 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 Oregon?
- Generally no. Oregon 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 Oregon Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Oregon?
- Oregon 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 Oregon Revised Statutes §§ 653.305-653.370 (Employment of Minors) citation on this page for the statutory source.