What Jobs Can Youth Do? (for teens)

When You Are 13 Or Younger . . .

You can deliver newspapers.
You can work as a baby-sitter.
You can work as an actor or performer in motion pictures, television, theater or radio.
You can work in a business solely owned or operated by your parents.
You can work on a farm owned or operated by your parents.

However, parents are prohibited from employing their children in manufacturing, mining, or any other occupation declared hazardous (listed below) by the Secretary of Labor.

More information on Exemptions from Child Labor Rules.

When You Turn 14 . . .

You also can work in an:

• office,
• grocery store,
• retail store,
• restaurant,
• movie theater,
• baseball park,
• amusement park, or
• gasoline service station.

You generally may not work in:

• communications or public utilities jobs,
• construction or repair jobs,
• driving a motor vehicle or helping a driver,
• manufacturing and mining occupations,
• power-driven machinery or hoisting apparatus other than typical office machines,
• processing occupations,
• public messenger jobs,
• transporting of persons or property,
• workrooms where products are manufactured, mined or processed, or
• warehousing and storage.

In addition, you may not work any other job or occupation declared hazardous (listed below) by the Secretary of Labor.

More information on Prohibited Occupations.

When You Turn 16 . . .

You can work in any job or occupation that has not been declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. 

Hazardous Occupations
You generally may not work in any of the following hazardous occupations:

• manufacturing and storing of explosives,
• driving a motor vehicle and being an outside helper on a motor vehicle;
• coal mining,
• logging and sawmilling,
• power-driven woodworking machines,
• exposure to radioactive substances,
• power-driven hoisting apparatus,
• power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines,
• mining, other than coal mining,
• meat packing or processing (including the use of power-driven meat slicing machines),
• power-driven bakery machines,
• power-driven paper-product machines,
• manufacturing brick, tile, and related products,
• power-driven circular saws, band saws, and guillotine shears,
• wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operations,
• roofing operations and all work on or about a roof, or
• excavation operations.

There are some exemptions for apprentice/student-learner programs in some of these hazardous occupations.

More information on Prohibited Occupations.

When You Turn 18 . . .

You can work any job for any number of hours. The child labor rules no longer apply to you.

Different rules apply to farms, and individual States may have stricter rules.