Hiring teenagers is how a lot of cafés, shops and restaurants get through summer. It is also the fastest way to a child-labour penalty, because the rules are age-banded, they change between term time and summer, and they are enforced against the employer regardless of who wanted the shift.
This is the federal picture. Your state may be stricter, and where it is, the stricter rule wins.
Federal hour limits by age
14 and 15 year olds
- Term time: 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week.
- Summer: 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week.
- Time of day: 7am to 7pm — extended to 9pm from 1 June through Labor Day.
16 and 17 year olds
- No federal limit on hours or time of day.
- But they may not work in occupations declared hazardous — and several states add their own curfews and hour caps.
Under 14
Generally may not be employed at all outside narrow exceptions such as a family business or newspaper delivery.
Where employers actually get caught
- The 7pm boundary in term time. A 15-year-old rostered 4pm–8pm in October is a violation, even by an hour, even if they offered.
- The summer switch. The 9pm extension starts 1 June and ends on Labor Day — a schedule that was legal in August is not in September.
- The school-week cap. Eighteen hours goes quickly across five short shifts.
- A birthday mid-week. Someone turning 16 on Wednesday is under the 14–15 rules until then.
None of these are decisions anybody makes deliberately. They are arithmetic done at speed on a Sunday evening while building next week’s rota.
Build a schedule that cannot break the rules
The reliable fix is not training people to remember curfews. It is a schedule that refuses to save one.
ClockAll checks a shift against the employee’s date of birth before the week is published, and blocks it if it breaks federal minor-hour limits — before the shift exists, before anyone is told to turn up. When you pick a name in the schedule builder it says so on the spot:
- minor — starts before 7am
- minor — runs past curfew
- minor — over 8h
Age is taken on the date of the shift, not today, so a birthday inside the scheduled week changes the answer the way it does in law. A missing date of birth is never treated as a minor — the check stays silent rather than blocking a shift on a guess.
Common questions
Can a 16-year-old work past 10pm on a school night?
Federally, yes — there is no federal time-of-day limit at 16. Several states disagree, and state law governs where it is stricter. Check yours before you roster it.
Do these limits apply to a family business?
Parents employing their own children are exempt from some provisions, but not from the hazardous-occupation rules. The exemption is narrower than most people assume.
What counts as a school week?
A week in which school is in session for any part. That is why the term-time cap can apply to a week with only two school days in it.
Does a minor still get meal and rest breaks?
Yes — and many states require breaks for minors at shorter thresholds than for adults. Those are state rules, so check your own.
ClockAll is a software company, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. Wage-and-hour rules change and vary by city and state — check your own before you rely on any of it.