WI · State teen labor law
Wisconsin teen labor law — work hours, permits, and restricted jobs
Wisconsin requires an online state-issued permit for every minor under 18, with a $10 fee per job. A 2017 amendment raised the school-year hour cap for 16-17-year-olds to 50 hours with parental consent, while keeping an 11:00 PM curfew on school nights.
Quick facts
School year vs summer hour caps
Wisconsin 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
- 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
- 26 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 23:00
Note: School-week cap of 26 hours. Up to 50 hours/week with parental consent under the 2017 amendment, but the 11:00 PM school-night curfew still applies.
Summer / school breaks
When school is out
- Max hours per day
- 8 hr
- Max hours per week
- 50 hr
- Time window
- 06:00 – 00:30
Note: Up to 12:30 AM on nights not preceding a school day.
Work permit
Wisconsin requires a work permit for minors aged 14–17.
Permits are issued online by the DWD. The minor pays a $10 fee, provides proof of age, a Social Security number, parental consent, and an employer's letter of intent. A separate permit is required for each new job. The DWD emails the permit to the minor and employer.
Form: Wisconsin Child Labor Permit
Jobs by age
Age-specific guides to common allowed jobs in Wisconsin, 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: Wis. Stat. §103.23
Selling alcohol on premises licensed for sale (under 18)
State: Wis. Stat. §125.07(3)
See the full federal hazardous orders (HO-1 to HO-17) for plain-English summaries, or the Wisconsin hazardous-orders deep-dive for the federal floor plus Wisconsin-specific additions.
Breaks & meal periods
Wisconsin 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.
No minor may work more than 6 consecutive hours without a meal period, and the employer must allow at least 30 minutes reasonably close to the usual meal time. This is mandatory for workers under 18 (for adults 18 and over a 30-minute meal is only recommended under DWD § 274.02). Wisconsin treats the minor meal period as duty-free and unpaid.
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: Wis. Admin. Code DWD § 270.11(3)
Pay & minimum wage
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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
- Wisconsin authorizes a certificate-free 'opportunity employment wage' for an 'opportunity employee' — defined as an employee who is not yet 20 years old, during the first 90 consecutive days after being initially employed by the employer. This is a distinct Wisconsin-specific lower wage (not the federal $4.25 figure) that an ordinary first-job teen can be paid without any special certificate; on the 91st day or once the worker turns 20, the full minimum applies.
Wisconsin's general minimum equals the federal $7.25, but its youth structure does NOT mirror the federal $4.25/90-day rule — it is a distinct Wisconsin opportunity employment wage set at a Wisconsin-specific amount under Wis. Stat. § 104.035 and Wis. Admin. Code DWD 272. DWD 272.01 defines an 'opportunity employee' as one 'not yet 20 years old, during the first 90 consecutive days after the employee is initially employed by the employer,' and no certificate is required. Because this is a state-specific opportunity wage that is not the federal $4.25 figure and is certificate-free for under-20s, the state is subminimum-allowed even though the standard minimum equals $7.25.
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
Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin's definition of "employment" under Wis. Stat. § 103.001(7) excludes farm labor, so the state Employment of Minors provisions (§§ 103.64-103.82) and the state work-permit requirement do not apply to most farm work. DWD 270.15(3) further exempts "the employment of a minor engaged in farm work performed outside school hours in connection with the minor's own home farm and directly for his or her parent or guardian, or on another farm with the consent of the minor's parent or guardian where the farm work is primarily an exchange of labor with another farmer." The standard state work permit (with the $10 fee per job) is not required for agricultural work. Federal FLSA § 213(c) governs the operating floor: minimum age 12 with parental consent on small farms not subject to federal minimum-wage coverage; 10-11 for hand-harvest short-season waivers; 14 off-family-farm without parental consent; the federal parent-owned farm exemption applies (no minimum age, parental waiver of Ag HOs for under-16); 16+ for federal Ag HO-1 through Ag HO-11. State and federal rules permit minors under 16 to work up to seven days per week in agriculture, and minors aged 14-17 may exceed 50 hours per week during peak farming periods with overtime pay at time-and-one-half.
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: Wis. Stat. § 103.001(7) (definition of "employment" excludes farm labor); Wis. Stat. §§ 103.64-103.82 (Employment of Minors); Wis. Admin. Code DWD 270.15(3) (parent-farm and labor-exchange exemption)
Family-business carve-out
Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin is one of the few states where the federal parent-owned-business exemption is effectively narrowed by a universal state-permit overlay: the state-issued under-18 work permit (online, $10 per job) applies to all non-agricultural minor employment, including work in a parent-owned non-ag business. The only carve-outs in § 103.001(7) and DWD 270.15(3) are for farm labor (including parent-owned-farm work and labor-exchange arrangements) — not for non-ag family businesses. A minor working in a parent-owned restaurant or retail store must obtain the state permit and is subject to the state's hour caps (3 hrs/school day for under-16, 50 hrs/school week for 16-17 with parental consent under the 2017 amendment, 11:00 PM school-night curfew). 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 Wisconsin 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 for non-ag work.
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: Wis. Stat. §§ 103.64-103.82 (Employment of Minors); § 103.70 (universal under-18 state work permit, $10 per job); § 103.001(7) (farm-labor definitional carve-out only)
Entertainment-industry work
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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: Wisconsin Statutes §§ 103.64-103.82 (Employment of Minors)
US DOL Wage & Hour Division: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er/laborstandards/workpermit/
Last verified:
Informational only — verify with the Wisconsin Department of Labor before hiring or starting work.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a 14-year-old work in Wisconsin?
- Yes — under Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin work permit is required.
- How many hours can a 15-year-old work during school in Wisconsin?
- When school is in session, Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin require a work permit for minors?
- Yes — Wisconsin requires a work permit for minors aged 14-17 (form: Wisconsin Child Labor Permit). Permits are issued online by the DWD. The minor pays a $10 fee, provides proof of age, a Social Security number, parental consent, and an employer's letter of intent. A separate permit is required for each new job. The DWD emails the permit to the minor and employer.
- How many hours can a 16-year-old work during summer in Wisconsin?
- During summer or school breaks, Wisconsin allows a 16-year-old to work up to 8 hours per school day, up to 50 hours per week, between 06:00 and 00:30. 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 Wisconsin?
- Yes. Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?
- Sometimes. Wisconsin lets some teens, or inexperienced first-job and trainee workers, be paid below the standard state minimum wage without a special certificate. Wisconsin authorizes a certificate-free 'opportunity employment wage' for an 'opportunity employee' — defined as an employee who is not yet 20 years old, during the first 90 consecutive days after being initially employed by the employer. This is a distinct Wisconsin-specific lower wage (not the federal $4.25 figure) that an ordinary first-job teen can be paid without any special certificate; on the 91st day or once the worker turns 20, the full minimum applies. Minimum-wage dollar amounts change almost every year, so confirm the current figure with the Wisconsin Department of Labor. See the Pay and minimum wage section on this page.
- What jobs can a minor not do in Wisconsin?
- Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin Statutes §§ 103.64-103.82 (Employment of Minors) citation on this page for the statutory source.