Child Labor Laws in New Jersey: Age, Hours, and Restrictions

New Jersey’s child labor laws set 14 as the general minimum working age, require most minors under 18 to obtain working papers before their first day, cap daily and weekly hours by age, ban a long list of hazardous jobs, and entitle young workers to the state’s full minimum wage in most industries. The rules split sharply between 14- and 15-year-olds, who face the tightest limits, and 16- and 17-year-olds, who can work longer and later.

The Youngest Age You Can Work

New Jersey generally prohibits employing anyone under 16 in any gainful occupation, with a narrow exception that opens the door at 14. A 14- or 15-year-old can work outside school hours and during school vacations as long as the job is not in a factory and is not otherwise prohibited by law.¹

A few activities sit outside the age floor entirely. Minors under 14 can work in agricultural pursuits, street trades, and newspaper delivery under conditions set out in the statute. Work a minor performs at their own home directly for a parent or legal guardian is fully exempt from the child labor act.¹

Working Papers Before the First Shift

Before any minor under 18 starts a job, the employer must have an employment certificate — commonly called working papers — or a special permit on file. The certificate is issued by the school district where the minor lives, or where the minor got the job offer if the minor is a nonresident.²

The process is now digital. Minors, their parents or guardians, and prospective employers each complete their portion through a state portal.³ A physician may need to certify on the A300 form that the minor is physically qualified for the promised job.⁴

Some jobs skip the certificate. Minors 16 and older working in agriculture do not need one. During school breaks, minors 15 and older starting a seasonal amusement, food service, restaurant, or retail job can work the first 14 days without a vacation certificate, though no one under 16 may operate or service power-driven machinery even during that window.²

Hours for 14- and 15-Year-Olds

During the school year, a 14- or 15-year-old can only work outside scheduled school hours. The caps: three hours on any school day, 18 hours in a school week, and eight hours on a non-school day that falls within a school week (like a holiday). Shifts cannot start before 7:00 a.m. or run past 7:00 p.m.⁵

Summer is different. From the last day of the school year through Labor Day, 14- and 15-year-olds working in restaurants, supermarkets, other retail establishments, or any non-prohibited occupation can work up to 40 hours per week, eight hours per day, and until 9:00 p.m.⁵

Hours for 16- and 17-Year-Olds

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds can work up to eight hours per day and 40 hours per week year-round. Normal shift hours run from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.⁵

On nights that do not precede a school day, they can work past 11:00 p.m. with written parental permission — meaning Friday and Saturday nights and nights before holidays are open for later shifts. The Department of Labor’s published hour chart puts the cutoff at midnight on those nights.⁶

Seasonal amusement and restaurant jobs have their own carve-out. If a shift begins before 11:00 p.m. during a vacation period or on a night before a non-school day, a 16- or 17-year-old can keep working past midnight as a continuation of that shift, with a hard stop at 3:00 a.m. They still cannot be on the clock before 6:00 a.m. on any day that precedes a school day.⁵

Meal Breaks and Days Off

Every minor under 18 gets a 30-minute meal break after six continuous hours of work. Any break shorter than 30 minutes does not count as interrupting the continuous stretch, so an employer cannot split a short pause into two 15-minute breaks and call it compliant.⁷ No minor can work more than six consecutive days in a week, no matter how short each shift.⁸

Jobs Minors Cannot Do

Federal and New Jersey law both ban minors under 18 from hazardous work, and the lists are long. Federal law alone identifies 17 categories of prohibited non-agricultural occupations, from explosives manufacturing to roofing to driving a motor vehicle.⁹ The bans apply even when a parent owns the business. Where federal and state standards differ, the stricter rule wins.

The prohibitions that come up most often in teen jobs:

Power-driven equipment such as woodworking and metal-forming machines, circular saws, band saws, and meat slicers, including meat slicers in restaurants and delis.¹⁰
Wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operations, plus excavation and trenching.¹¹
Coal mining, other mining (including quarries and sand and gravel operations), and roofing, which covers ground-level work related to a roof.¹⁰
Most jobs in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering, and packing establishments, not just the roles involving machinery.¹¹

Freight elevators and other power-driven hoisting equipment are also off-limits in ordinary retail settings, and New Jersey requires employers to post the list of prohibited occupations wherever minors work. In agriculture, minors under 16 cannot operate a tractor over 20 PTO horsepower or handle toxic agricultural chemicals labeled with “danger,” “poison,” or “warning.”¹²

Pay: Minimum Wage and Tips

As of January 1, 2026, New Jersey’s minimum wage is $15.92 per hour for most employees, and it applies fully to minors in covered employment. There is no state youth subminimum wage for standard jobs.¹³

Tipped workers under 18 follow the same structure as adults. Employers must pay a cash wage of at least $6.05 per hour, with a maximum tip credit of $9.87. If tips plus the cash wage do not reach $15.92 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.¹³

Farm work is treated separately. Minors under 18 in agricultural jobs are not covered by the New Jersey minimum wage and fall under federal wage and hour rates instead,¹⁴ meaning a minor farmworker can legally earn less than a peer in retail or food service.

Exceptions for Family, Farm, and Entertainment Work

Family Businesses and Work at Home

Work a minor performs at their own home directly for a parent or legal guardian is entirely exempt from the child labor act, whether the task is domestic or agricultural.¹ The exemption does not reach hazardous work, does not apply if the family business is a corporation, and does not apply when the minor works at a location other than their own home. Parents who assume a family business is a free pass often are not covered.

Agriculture

Farm jobs come with lighter paperwork. Minors 16 and older working in agriculture do not need an employment certificate.² Under federal law, children as young as 12 can work on farms with written parental consent, and children under 12 can work on small farms that are exempt from federal minimum wage rules, again with parental consent.¹⁵ The hazardous-work bans on pesticide handling and heavy machinery still apply.

Child Performers

Entertainment work runs on its own permit system. Employers must obtain either a standard employment certificate or a theatrical emergent permit for every minor in a production, even unpaid roles, and the permit must be on set for the entire production.¹⁶

Child performers are limited to five hours of rehearsal and performance per day, with three hours set aside for rest, meals, and education, and no more than eight total hours combining school and performance time. Shifts cannot begin before 7:00 a.m. or extend past 11:30 p.m., and the minor must be under the direct supervision of a parent, guardian, or a named employer representative at all times. Certain performances are banned outright for anyone under 18, including work as a gymnast, wrestler, boxer, contortionist, or acrobat, along with any exhibition considered dangerous or indecent. New Jersey does not require Coogan-style trust fund accounts for child performers’ earnings.¹⁶

What Employers Face for Violations

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development enforces the child labor laws and can inspect workplaces and review employment certificates. Employing a minor in violation of the act or obstructing an inspection is an offense.¹⁷

Penalties climb with the number of violations and turn on whether the employer acted knowingly:

Administrative fines of up to $500 for a first violation, up to $1,000 for a second, and up to $2,500 for each violation after that.¹⁷
Non-knowing violations are a disorderly persons offense: $100 to $2,000 for a first violation, $200 to $4,000 for each subsequent one.¹⁷
Knowing violations are a fourth-degree crime under New Jersey’s criminal code.¹⁷

Employers who let minors perform prohibited work can face exposure well beyond the statutory penalties if a serious injury results, including civil liability.

1
FindLaw. New Jersey Code 34-2-21.2 – Minors Under 16 Not to Be Employed; Exceptions
2
Justia. New Jersey Code 34-2-21.7 – Certificate of Employment and Age; Special Permits
3
State of New Jersey. Working Papers – Get Started
4
New Jersey Department of Education. A300 Combined Certification Form
5
Justia. New Jersey Code 34-2-21.3 – Limitations on Hours of Employment for Minors
6
State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Hours of Employment for Minors Under 18
7
Justia. New Jersey Code 34-2-21.4 – Lunch Period for Minors Under 18
8
State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. For Employers of Workers Under 18
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Prohibited Occupations for Non-Agricultural Employees
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
11
U.S. Department of Labor. What Jobs Are Off-Limits for Kids
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 40 – Overview of Youth Employment Provisions of the FLSA for Agricultural Occupations
13
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Increase to $15.92 Per Hour for Most Employees on Jan. 1
14
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Farm Work Minimum Rates
15
U.S. Department of Labor. State Child Labor Laws Applicable to Agricultural Employment
16
State of New Jersey. Theatrical Production Application
17
Justia. New Jersey Code 34-2-21.19 – Penalty, Child Labor Law Enforcement Trust Fund