At 16, federal law lets you work almost any job that isn’t classified as hazardous, for as many hours as you want, at the standard minimum wage — with a lower training rate allowed for the first 90 days. That’s the federal floor. Most of the real limits on a 16-year-old’s job come from state rules layered on top, especially around night shifts during the school year and mandatory breaks. The labor laws for 16-year-olds are worth understanding from both angles before a first shift starts.
What Jobs You Can Take at 16
The short version: almost anything the Secretary of Labor hasn’t declared dangerous. Federal law allows 16- and 17-year-olds to work unlimited hours in any non-hazardous occupation.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations Retail, restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, office work, landscaping, tutoring, lifeguarding — all fair game.
This is a big shift from the rules for 14- and 15-year-olds, who can only work from a short approved list. At 16, an employer doesn’t need to check whether the job appears on a permitted list. They just need to confirm it isn’t on the prohibited one.
Jobs That Stay Off-Limits Until 18
The Department of Labor maintains 17 Hazardous Occupations Orders that ban workers under 18 from specific tasks and industries.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations The categories most likely to matter for a teen job search fall into a few groups.
Powered equipment. Power-driven woodworking equipment like chain saws, nailing machines, and sanders is prohibited. So is operating or even riding on forklifts, skid-steer loaders, scissor lifts, cherry pickers, boom trucks, cranes, and similar hoisting equipment.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
Meat and deli machines. Power-driven meat slicers, saws, grinders, and choppers are banned wherever they appear, including restaurant kitchens and delis. The ban covers cleaning the disassembled parts too, and it applies even when the slicer is being used on cheese or vegetables. Most jobs inside slaughtering, packing, and rendering plants are also prohibited.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
Roofing, mining, explosives, radiation. All work on or about a roof is prohibited.2eCFR. 29 CFR 570.67 – Occupations in Roofing Operations and on or About a Roof (Order 16) So is nearly all work at metal mines, quarries, and gravel operations, employment in plants that manufacture or store explosives, work involving radioactive materials or ionizing radiation, and manufacturing brick, tile, and similar products.3eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation Retail stores that sell ammunition, gun shops, and trap and skeet ranges are carved out of the explosives ban.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
No Driving for Work
This one surprises teens who already have a license. A 16-year-old cannot drive a motor vehicle on public roads for work or serve as an outside helper on a delivery route. The ban is absolute at 16, with no exceptions.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations Pizza delivery, courier work, and any role that puts you behind the wheel of a company vehicle are out. At 17, a narrow daylight-only exception opens up, but not before.
What Restaurant Work Looks Like at 16
Food service is the most common first job, so the details matter. At 16, you can cook over open flames, operate deep fryers, and use high-speed ovens. The federal cooking restrictions on equipment like fryolators, rotisseries, and NEICO broilers apply only to 14- and 15-year-olds.4U.S. Department of Labor. Cooking and Baking Under the Federal Child Labor Provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act The catch: power-driven meat slicers, commercial mixers, and certain bakery machines remain off-limits. You can run the grill at a burger place, but you cannot work the deli slicer at a sandwich shop.
Hours You Can Work
Federal law places zero limits on how many hours a 16- or 17-year-old can work per day or per week, and it does not regulate start or end times for this age group.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations A 50-hour week is federally legal at this age.
States fill in the gap, and most do. Night-work cutoffs are the most common state rule: many states prohibit 16-year-olds from working past 10:00 or 11:00 PM on evenings before a school day.5U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment Weekly caps during the school year vary widely. Some states limit school-week hours to around 24 to 30; others allow 40 or more. When federal and state rules conflict, whichever is more protective of the minor controls.6U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
Many states also require meal breaks for minors, commonly 30 minutes for shifts over a set length, and those break rules often exceed what the state requires for adult workers. Check your state labor department’s site — variation here is enormous.
What You Get Paid
Youth Training Wage
Employers can pay workers under 20 a reduced rate of $4.25 per hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage After 90 days, the wage must rise to at least the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.8U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wage The 90-day clock starts on the first day of employment with that specific employer and runs continuously whether or not you work every day. It also ends on the day before your 20th birthday regardless of the count.9U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
Employers are barred from firing existing workers or cutting their hours to make room for cheaper youth hires; that anti-displacement rule is treated as a federal anti-discrimination violation.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage If your state’s minimum wage exceeds $7.25, the employer must pay the higher state rate once the training period ends. In 2026, state minimums run from $7.25 to over $17.00 per hour.
Overtime
The FLSA’s overtime rules make no distinction based on age. Work more than 40 hours in a single workweek and you’re entitled to time-and-a-half, just like an adult. Since federal law doesn’t cap your hours at 16, overtime situations show up during summers and school breaks when shifts pile up. Some states trigger overtime for minors at a lower weekly threshold, so state rules may kick in first.
Work Permits and Hiring Paperwork
Many states require an Employment or Age Certificate — usually called a work permit — before a 16-year-old can start.6U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate The employer fills out a section describing the job duties and schedule, the teen supplies proof of age (usually a birth certificate), and a school office or labor agency reviews and issues the certificate. Some states run this through school counselors, others through a government agency. Not every state requires one, so check with your school or state labor department.
The standard new-hire paperwork applies on top of that. Employers must verify identity and work authorization through Form I-9, using documents from the federal government’s approved lists — a U.S. passport alone works, as does a birth certificate paired with a school ID. Tax withholding is handled separately through the W-4, which requires your Social Security number.
Farm Work Follows Different Rules
Agricultural employment is on a separate federal track, and it is far more permissive at 16. Once you turn 16, you can work any agricultural job, at any time, with no federal restrictions on hours or tasks. The agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders — covering things like operating large tractors, handling certain pesticides, and working with timber — apply only to workers under 16.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 40 – Overview of Youth Employment (Child Labor) Provisions for Agricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
A 16-year-old on a farm can drive a tractor, run harvesting equipment, and handle livestock with no federal barrier. State agricultural labor laws may still add requirements, and minimum wage and overtime protections still apply for covered agricultural employers.
Taxes Come Out of Every Paycheck
A teen paycheck has taxes withheld just like an adult’s. Federal income tax comes out based on how you fill out your W-4. Social Security tax at 6.2% of gross pay and Medicare tax at 1.45% come out of every paycheck. There is no age-based exemption from those payroll taxes for a typical teen job.
Whether you owe federal income tax depends on how much you earn. If you’re claimed as a dependent on a parent’s return and your earned income stays under the standard deduction for dependents, you likely won’t owe federal income tax and can file a return to get any withheld income tax back. Social Security and Medicare withholdings are not refundable through filing. Check the IRS dependent filing thresholds for the current tax year.
If You Get Hurt or See a Violation
Minors injured on the job are generally eligible for workers’ compensation on the same basis as adult employees. Most state workers’ comp systems cover part-time, seasonal, and minor employees without age-based exclusions. If you’re hurt at work, you’re typically entitled to medical treatment and wage replacement regardless of age. Some states impose enhanced benefits when the injured worker is a minor employed illegally, which stacks on top of federal labor penalties against the employer.
To report a suspected violation, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor takes complaints online or by phone at 1-866-487-9243.11U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint Have the business name, your work schedule, and specific details ready. Pay stubs and time records strengthen a complaint. The process is confidential, and retaliation against a worker who files a complaint is itself a federal violation.
Federal penalties for child labor violations are not trivial. An employer can be fined up to $16,035 for each employee subjected to a violation. If a violation causes serious injury or death to a worker under 18, the maximum jumps to $72,876 per violation, and doubles to $145,752 for willful or repeated violations that cause death or serious injury.12U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments Those figures are adjusted annually for inflation, and state labor agencies may impose their own fines on top.