Static educational checklist — not a calculator. No schedule builder, no punch inputs, no live penalty math. Use this to spot common minors hours and hazardous-job red flags under the FLSA child-labor provisions and selected state overlays. Distinct from final-paycheck timing, on-call/waiting, travel-time, meal/rest, tip-credit, and OT stub pages.
Federal baseline (FLSA child labor)
The Fair Labor Standards Act restricts when and at what jobs minors may work. Hours limits are strictest for ages 14–15; ages 16–17 generally have no federal daily/weekly hour caps but remain barred from Hazardous Occupations Orders. Nonagricultural rules differ from farm rules. Many states add earlier curfews, shorter school-week caps, work permits, or industry-specific minors overtime. This page does not compute fines or build a compliant schedule.
Checklist — child-labor hours & job red flags
Ages 14–15: school-day / school-week hour caps. Flag schedules that treat 14–15-year-olds like adult part-timers. Under federal nonagricultural rules, when school is in session those minors generally may not work more than 3 hours on a school day or 18 hours in a school week (with limited exceptions such as certain work-study programs). “We always schedule four-hour shifts after school” is a classic trap.
Ages 14–15: night / early-morning curfews. Flag closing shifts and dawn prep that ignore the federal night window. When school is in session, work is generally limited to roughly 7 a.m.–7 p.m. (extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). State laws often cut that window shorter — the stricter rule wins.
Ages 14–15: non-school week still capped. Flag “summer = unlimited hours” policies. Outside school weeks, federal nonagricultural rules still generally cap 14–15-year-olds at 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week — they do not become full adult overtime candidates under child-labor hours rules.
Ages 16–17: Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs). Flag “they’re 16 so any job is fine.” Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds generally have no federal daily/weekly hour limits, but they remain barred from many HO jobs (e.g., certain power-driven meat-processing and bakery machines, forklifts, many roofing/excavation tasks, and restricted driving). Hours compliance does not cure a banned task.
Restaurant / retail equipment traps. Flag minors operating or cleaning meat slicers, certain mixers, balers/compactors, or fryer oil filtration setups that fall under HO lists. Common WHD enforcement themes include working later/longer than allowed and using off-limits machines — schedule software alone does not catch equipment bans.
Related tip floors (adult tipped work): tip credit checklist — tip credit ≠ child-labor clearance.
Driving / delivery. Flag 16–17-year-olds assigned incidental or regular motor-vehicle driving or forklift operation without checking the HO driving rules and state CDL / youth-driving overlays. “Just run this delivery after school” can be both an hours and a hazardous-job problem.
State overlays beat a federal-only schedule. Flag copy-paste of federal 14–15 caps into states with stricter minors hours, work permits, or industry rules. Educational StatutePay adjacency (not this page’s calculator): Oregon minors adequate-work rules, Wisconsin minors overtime, California motion-picture minors overtime. Always check the state labor site / YouthRules state map.
Age proof, permits, and naming traps. Flag missing birth-date verification, expired work permits where required, and “intern / volunteer / trainee” labels used to dodge child-labor hours or HO rules. Child-labor hours ≠ FLSA overtime after 40 for adults; ≠ CA final-paycheck waiting-time penalties; ≠ Part 785 on-call waiting. This checklist does not map every state rule or compute civil money penalties.
Educational checklist only — not legal advice, not a child-labor penalty calculator, and not a scheduling tool. Always read the full DOL/state rules and apply age, school calendar, industry, agriculture vs nonagriculture, and CBA facts. States differ; the stricter standard often controls. Last updated 2026-09-06. Home · Final-paycheck timing · On-call & waiting · Travel-time · Meal & rest · Tip credit · OT stub checklist · Cheat sheet · StatutePay