Working Under 18 in California: Permits, Hours, and Your Rights
Michael Trust founded Michael Trust Law, APC after more than 35 years in HR leadership across entertainment, healthcare, higher education, finance, banking, solar energy, and other industries, including managing approximately 35,000 disability and leave-of-absence cases. He holds the SPHR, PHRca, and SHRM-SCP credentials. The PHRca is a California-specific HR credential focused on California employment law and HR practice. The SPHR, PHRca, and SHRM-SCP are HR credentials, not State Bar certifications. Michael Trust does not hold a State Bar certified specialization, and currently the State Bar of California does not offer a specialization in employment law. According to HRCI’s published pass-rate statistics at https://www.hrci.org/pass-rates, the PHRca has the lowest pass rate of all HRCI credentials (47% as of December 31, 2025, compared with 71% to 84% for HRCI’s other certifications), and only 293 candidates worldwide tested for it in 2025. That HR-systems background helps identify HR process issues early, which can shape legal analysis on both sides. Here, that background helps young workers and their parents understand the rules.
On this page: Work permits | Hours | Jobs you cannot do | Pay and breaks | If your employer breaks the rules
Work Permits
If you are under 18, you generally need a permit to work, which your school issues after a parent or guardian files a request. If you have graduated from high school, or you have an equivalent such as a certificate of proficiency or a GED, you are generally treated as an adult for permits and hours.
Hours
| Your age | Daily and weekly limits | Earliest start and latest finish | While school is in session |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 and younger | Eight hours a day and 40 hours a week | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day each year) | Ages 14 and 15: no more than three hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week, and no work during school hours |
| 16 and 17 | Eight hours a day and 48 hours a week | 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on a night before a school day (12:30 a.m. before a non-school day) | No more than four hours on a school day, with exceptions for work experience programs and some permits |
Special rules apply to children under 14, to entertainment work, and to school-approved programs.
Jobs You Cannot Do
If you are under 16, you cannot work on a railroad or vessel, in the hazardous processes the law lists, on scaffolding, in heavy building trades, in a mine, quarry, or excavation, in tobacco work, or driving a car or truck. Any job that is dangerous to life or limb, or that harms your health or morals, is off limits.
For your rights to a safe workplace, see Employee Rights FAQs.
Pay and Breaks
You are an employee. Overtime, meal period, and rest period rules protect you too. See Wage and Hour for those rules.
If Your Employer Breaks the Rules
An employer that breaks the minors rules commits a misdemeanor, with a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, or up to six months in county jail, or both. A willful violation carries a fine of up to $10,000, or up to six months in county jail, or both. These criminal penalties follow a conviction, and a court cannot send a person to jail unless the offense came after a conviction for an earlier offense under the same law. The state can also impose civil penalties through a citation from the Director of Industrial Relations or the director’s designee. A first violation of the hours rules carries a penalty of $500 to $1,000, and a second violation carries a penalty of $1,000. A third or later violation, hazardous work, or imminent danger carries a penalty of $5,000 to $10,000. Each penalty applies to each violation. Willful or repeated violations draw higher penalties than comparable first or nonwillful violations, and a penalty in the highest class cannot exceed $10,000. Cal. Lab. Code §§ 1286 (opens in a new tab), 1287 (opens in a new tab), 1288 (opens in a new tab), 1303 (opens in a new tab).
Pay problems cost an employer more. If your employer does not pay overtime you earned, your employer owes you the unpaid wages. The Labor Commissioner can also issue a citation for a civil penalty of $50 for each underpaid employee in each pay period for a first violation and $100 for later violations. Cal. Lab. Code § 558 (opens in a new tab). If your employer does not give you a required meal or rest period, your employer owes you one extra hour of pay for each day it happens. Cal. Lab. Code § 226.7 (opens in a new tab).
If your employer punished you for speaking up, see Retaliation.
When to Contact Us
If something at your job is not right and it has affected you, you or a parent can contact Michael Trust Law, APC for help with resolving it.
If something at your job is not right and it has affected you, contact Michael Trust Law, APC. That includes a termination, a performance improvement plan, discipline, retaliation, discrimination, or harassment, whether you still work there or not. Deadlines to act can be short, so please call or email promptly. A no-charge consultation is a first conversation about your own situation, and we will tell you whether and how we can help.
No attorney-client relationship exists until a fee agreement is fully executed by all parties. See Disclaimers.
Cal. Educ. Code §§ 49101 (opens in a new tab), 49110 (opens in a new tab), 49160 (opens in a new tab); Cal. Lab. Code §§ 226.7 (opens in a new tab), 510 (opens in a new tab), 558 (opens in a new tab), 1286 (opens in a new tab), 1287 (opens in a new tab), 1288 (opens in a new tab), 1294 (opens in a new tab), 1303 (opens in a new tab), 1391 (opens in a new tab).
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Questions About Working Under 18?
Michael Trust Law, APC helps California workers, and the parents of workers under 18, with problems at work. Contact Michael Trust Law, APC to discuss your situation.
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