TX · State teen labor law
Texas teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Texas follows the federal FLSA hour caps for 14-15-year-olds and imposes no state hour limit on 16-17-year-olds. No state-issued work permit is required, but employers must verify age.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Texas 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
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 48 hr
- Time window
- 05:00 – 22:00
Note: No work during school hours. Hour caps follow federal FLSA: 3 hours per school day, 8 per non-school day, 18 per school week.
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: Up to midnight on non-school nights. Federal FLSA cap of 40 hours per week applies when school is out.
Ages 16–17
School year
When school is in session
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Note: Texas does not impose state-level hour limits on 16- and 17-year-olds; federal FLSA also has no hour limit for this age group in non-hazardous work.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- No state limit
- Max hours per week
- No state limit
- Time window
- No state limit
Work permit
Texas does not require a state-issued work permit for minors.
Texas does not issue a state work permit. Employers must keep proof of age on file (driver's license, certified birth certificate, or school-issued age certificate from the Texas Workforce Commission).
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Texas, 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
Door-to-door sales for minors under 18 without bonded supervisor
State: TX Labor Code §51.014
Sexually oriented businesses (any minor)
State: TX Labor Code §51.016
Operating power-driven hoists
Federal: HO-7
Operating power-driven meat-processing machines
Federal: HO-10
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Texas hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Texas-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Texas 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 Texas 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
Texas 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)); FLSA learner / student certificates also apply.
The federal minimum applies instead.
Texas's Minimum Wage Act pegs the state rate to the federal FLSA minimum rather than setting its own figure, and it removes FLSA-covered employees from the state act entirely — so for essentially all employers the federal structure governs, including the $4.25 youth wage for the first 90 calendar days for workers under 20. Texas has no state-created youth subminimum.
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: Tex. Lab. Code §§ 62.051, 62.151; 29 USC § 206 (FLSA)
Agricultural work carve-out
Texas 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.
Texas Labor Code Chapter 51 exempts agricultural employment from the state child-labor law: § 51.003 provides that the chapter does not apply to a child employed in agriculture during a period when the child is not legally required to attend school, and separately exempts a child employed in a nonhazardous occupation under the direct supervision of a parent/custodian in a business or enterprise owned or operated by that parent or custodian (a very broad family-business exemption that covers parent-owned farms and ranches at any age). Texas imposes no state minimum age, no daily/weekly hour cap, and no state work-permit requirement on ag work. Federal FLSA § 213(c) governs the operating floor: minimum age 14 off-family-farm outside school hours (12 with parental consent on small farms not subject to federal minimum-wage coverage; 10-11 for hand-harvest short-season waivers); the federal parent-owned farm exemption applies (no minimum age, parental waiver of Ag HOs for under-16 family-farm work). § 51.014 declares hazardous occupations and incorporates the federal Ag HO list by reference, so 16+ remains the minimum for federal Ag HO-1 through Ag HO-11 (tractors over 20 PTO HP, harvesters, etc.).
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: Tex. Lab. Code §§ 51.003 (general exemptions — parent-owned business and agriculture), 51.014 (hazardous occupations — adopts federal HO list); Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 51 (Employment of Children)
Family-business carve-out
Texas extends the federal parent-owned-business carve-out beyond the federal "parent only" rule — the rules below apply for family-owned non-agricultural businesses in this state.
Federal hazardous orders always apply — the parent-owned-business carve-out never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work.
Texas Labor Code § 51.003(a)(1) provides the broadest non-agricultural parent-owned-business carve-out of any state: the entire chapter (minimum age, hour limits, employment-certificate requirements) does not apply to a child employed in a nonhazardous occupation under the direct supervision of the child's parent OR a person standing in the position of a parent in a business or enterprise owned, operated, or controlled by that parent or person standing in the position of a parent. Texas has no state work-permit requirement for any minor regardless, so the practical impact of this exemption is on hour caps and hazardous-occupations limits — the state's general 8 PM (10 PM in summer) curfew for 14–15-year-olds and the state hazardous list at § 51.014 do not apply to a 14-year-old working at a family-owned restaurant, retail store, or service business under direct parent supervision. Federal hazardous orders HO-1 through HO-17 still apply (federal exemption never reaches mining, manufacturing, or HO-listed work), and § 51.014 incorporates the federal HO list by reference. Texas is also one of the few states whose statute uses "person standing in the position of a parent" language, which courts have applied to stepparents, legal guardians, and other adults in parental roles.
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: Tex. Lab. Code § 51.003(a)(1); § 51.014
Entertainment-industry work
Texas 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 Texas 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: Texas Labor Code Chapter 51 (§§ 51.001-51.034)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://www.twc.texas.gov/programs/child-labor-law-information
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Texas Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Texas?
- Yes — under Texas law a 14-year-old can work up to 8 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 05:00 and 22:00.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Texas?
- When school is in session, Texas allows a 15-year-old to work up to 8 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 05:00 and 22:00. During summer or school breaks the cap rises to up to 8 hours per school day, up to 48 hours per week, between 05:00 and 00:00.
- Does Texas require a work permit for minors?
- Texas does not require a state-issued work permit for minors. Employers still must follow federal FLSA rules on hour caps and restricted occupations.
- Can a teen be paid less than minimum wage in Texas?
- Yes, for a limited window. Texas 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 Texas Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Texas?
- Texas prohibits minors from a number of hazardous occupations, including: all federal hazardous orders ho-1 through ho-17; door-to-door sales for minors under 18 without bonded supervisor; sexually oriented businesses (any minor). The full list of federal hazardous orders (HO-1 through HO-17) also applies. See the Texas Labor Code Chapter 51 (§§ 51.001-51.034) citation on this page for the statutory source.