Your Teen's First Job: Work Permits, Hours, and Balancing Work with School

Teen’s first job? Learn the legal working age, whether teens need a work permit, how many hours they can work, and how to balance a job with school.

My daughter McKenna recently started her very first part-time job, and I’ve been watching the whole thing unfold with equal parts pride and, honestly, a little mom-worry. She enjoys it. She likes having coworkers, and she’s making new friends. She’s also tired, and she’s been napping more to make up for the sleep she’s losing on late school nights.

If your teen is asking about getting a job (or you’re wondering whether to nudge them toward one), you probably have a handful of practical questions. How old do they have to be? Do they need a work permit? How many hours are they actually allowed to work? And the big one: how do you keep a job from swallowing their grades and their sleep?

I did the digging so you don’t have to. Here’s what you need to know about your teen’s first job, plus how to help them balance work and school without burning out.

Is Your Teen Ready for a First Job?

In our family, we don’t push or even encourage our kids to get jobs. But all four of my kids have worked at some point while they were still in school, and I’ve seen how much a job can teach a teenager. They learn to balance and prioritize their time. They start saving for their future. They have a little spending money for right now. And they get a front-row seat to what it means to show up when someone is counting on you.

That said, a job is not automatically a good idea at every moment. Before your teen applies anywhere, it helps to have an honest conversation about a few things:

Are their grades and routines steady right now? A job works best when it’s added to a stable foundation, not used to escape a rough semester. Is the idea theirs? A teen who wants to work is far more likely to stick with it than one who feels pushed. And what’s the why? Saving for a car, building a college fund, wanting some independence, or just wanting to try something new are all great reasons. Knowing the reason helps you decide how many hours make sense.

If your teen is still learning to handle responsibility at home, a job isn’t the first step. Strong habits at home carry over. If you want a place to start, my post on chores for kids and the one on teaching children life skills lay that groundwork. Work ethic gets built long before the first application.

If your teen really wants a job, but isn’t really being super responsible at home, you can make a deal. You can list out what is required to be maintained at home in order to keep the job. Write it all down so you both know what is expected. Give a summary of what will be expected, what kind of grace will be, and what the requirement would be if the responsibilities are not met.

>>>Read: Learning to Love Our Work and Responsibility

How Old Does a Teen Have to Be to Work?

Under federal law, fourteen is generally the minimum age for a non-farm job. There are a few exceptions for younger kids. Children under 14 can typically babysit, deliver newspapers, work as actors or performers, or work in a business owned solely by their parents.

Farm work follows different rules, and states can set their own standards on top of the federal ones. When federal and state laws differ, the stricter one is the one an employer has to follow. That’s why it’s worth checking your own state’s rules on top of the federal basics below.

My kids all started working as recreation soccer refs before the age of 14.

Does Your Teen Need a Work Permit?

This is one of the most common questions parents have, and the answer depends entirely on where you live.

Federal law does not require a work permit for teens. But many states do, and the paperwork goes by a few names: work permit, working papers, employment certificate, or age certificate. In states that require them, the permit usually comes from your teen’s school (often the guidance office) or the state labor department, and it generally involves a form filled out by the teen, a parent, and sometimes the employer.

Here are a few examples of how much this varies:

New York requires working papers for minors, and teens get the application at their public high school. Pennsylvania requires working papers until age 18, with an exception for 17-year-olds who have already graduated. Florida, on the other hand, doesn’t require or issue work permits at all.

Here in Utah, minors are not required to have a work permit. Employers still need to confirm your teen’s age, and Utah school districts are expected to cooperate when an employer asks for age information. So keep your teen’s birth certificate or driver’s license handy for the first day of work.

One little tip that trips families up: many big chain employers use the same online application nationwide, so you might see a question like “If you’re under 18, can you provide a work permit?” even in a state that doesn’t issue them. If you live in a no-permit state, your teen can simply explain that permits aren’t issued where you live.

If you’re not sure what your state requires, the U.S. Department of Labor’s YouthRules site links to every state’s youth employment rules. Your teen’s school counselor can also point you in the right direction.

How Many Hours Can a Teen Work?

Hour limits depend on your teen’s age, and this is where the law gets specific. Under federal rules, 14- and 15-year-olds can only work outside of school hours, and they have these limits:

14-15 Year Olds

School day: up to 3 hours
School week: up to 18 hours
Non-school day: up to 8 hours
Non-school week: up to 40 hours
Time of day: 7 AM to 7 PM (until 9 PM from June 1-Labor Day

16 -17 Year Olds

Once a teen turns 16, federal law doesn’t limit the hours they can work. Some states do, though, so check yours.

Utah updated its own rules in 2024 so that workers under 16 follow nearly the same hour limits as the federal rules. For 16- and 17-year-olds in Utah, there’s no state limit on hours. That “no limit” part is a legal fact, not a parenting recommendation. Just because a 16-year-old can work 30 hours a week doesn’t mean they should, which brings us to the next section.

What Kinds of Jobs Can Teens Do?

Fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds can work in a wide range of jobs, including offices, grocery stores, retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, recreation, and amusement parks. Properly certified 15-year-olds can also work as lifeguards. Teens that age can’t work in jobs the government has declared hazardous, which includes things like operating power-driven saws and demolition work.

At 16 and 17, teens can do any job that hasn’t been designated hazardous. And once they turn 18, the federal youth employment rules no longer apply.

If your teen is too young for a traditional job, or just wants something more flexible, babysitting, pet sitting, and tutoring younger kids are classic first jobs. Because those jobs don’t come with a manager or a posted schedule, you’ll want to set the guardrails yourself: how many jobs a week, which families you know, and what time they need to be home.

Reffing can also be a good option. For my kids, they could accept or reject reffing every game they were offered, so they could work around their work and school schedule each week.

Pay, Breaks, and Paychecks

Utah’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and minors must be paid at least that. There’s one wrinkle: an employer can pay a minor a training wage of $4.25 an hour during their first 90 days. Utah also requires employers to give minors a meal period of at least 30 minutes within the first five hours of their shift, plus rest breaks. Other states have their own wage and break rules, so look up yours. My kids have all made more than this at their first “real” job, so while that is the minimum, be aware of what is the norm.

A first paycheck is a perfect teaching moment. Sit down together and look at the pay stub: gross pay versus what actually lands in their account, and where the difference went. This is also a great time to talk about saving, giving, and spending. Many families find that deciding on those percentages before the first paycheck arrives avoids a lot of awkwardness later. If your teen’s earnings get big enough that taxes become a question, a quick look at the IRS website or a chat with a tax preparer will answer it.

Balancing a Job with School

This is the part I care about most, because it’s where a first job can go sideways.

The research here is a mixed bag. A well-known study from the University of Washington found that teens who started working fewer than 20 hours a week during the school year looked the same as non-working students on school performance, behavior, and well-being. Teens who worked 20 or more hours a week, on the other hand, were linked to lower school engagement and more behavior problems. A separate national study out of Penn State reached a similar conclusion: working more than 20 hours a week was tied to worse school performance.

Interestingly, researchers at the University of Michigan found that seniors who worked 10 hours a week or less were no worse off than classmates who didn’t work. They also cautioned that a teen with a history of struggling in school may be more likely to pick up long work hours in the first place, so the job isn’t always the cause. And a University of Essex study found that for 15-year-old girls in England, every extra weekly hour of paid work was linked to lower exam results, partly because of less study time and, for some, longer travel to work. There was no similar effect for boys.

What does all that mean for your family? A few takeaways I’d draw from the research:

Keep school-year hours modest. Under 20 hours a week is the number researchers keep landing on, and for a first job, starting well below that is smart. Let your teen prove they can handle ten hours before you consider more.

This is not always easy. The manager might agree to this during the hiring process and then push for more hours once your teen has been working for a bit. Our girls have had to practice setting and keeping boundaries to ensure their manager stuck with the pre-agreed-upon hours.

Agree on a grade floor in advance. Sit down and decide together what happens if grades slip. A simple rule works best: if grades drop, hours drop. Because you set it up front, it’s a plan, not a punishment. If your child plans to attend any kind of training post-high school graduation, dipping grades might cost them a lot more than they will earn if they miss out on scholarship opportunities.

Look at the whole week, not just the job. School, homework, sports, music, church, family time, and friends all compete for the same hours. A teen’s school-day schedule might be up at 6:40, school and track practice, home around 5, then work and homework, and in bed at 10. When I put it on paper, it’s easy to see why there’s not much margin. Sleep is often something that is sacrificed.

Talk to the manager early. Ask your teen to tell their employer about school commitments from day one: exam weeks, games, concerts, the whole thing. Good employers expect this and appreciate the heads-up.

Check in weekly. A quick Sunday sit-down about the week ahead (shifts, tests, practices, rides) keeps small problems from becoming big ones. If your teen is a driver, a written agreement like our teen driving contract can cover rides to and from work, too.

>>>Read: Guardrails for Teens: Setting Boundaries that Keep Them Safe

And please remember that this is your teen’s job, so they need room to own it. Let them set their own alarm, talk to their own manager, and handle their own schedule swaps. Stepping back is hard, but it’s where the growth happens. I wrote more about knowing when to back off and when to press in How Much Control Should You Give Teens.

Protecting Your Teen’s Sleep

If you’ve been around Babywise Mom for long, you know I’m going to bring this back to sleep. Sleep doesn’t stop being important when your baby grows up. Teenagers need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, and puberty shifts their internal clocks later, so they naturally fall asleep later and wake up later. Early school start times don’t cooperate with that, and a part-time job stacked on top can push sleep down even further. Sleep experts specifically name part-time work as one of the things in a hectic after-school schedule that can cut into a teen’s sleep.

I see this with McKenna. With a 10 p.m. bedtime and a 6:40 a.m. alarm, she gets at most 8 hours and 40 minutes in bed, which is toward the low end of what teens need. She’s naturally a high-sleep-needs kid, and she’s responsible about protecting her sleep, but she’s still tired often and naps to compensate. The one downside she’s noticed about her job is the late nights on school nights.

So when your teen negotiates their schedule, treat sleep like a non-negotiable. A few things that help:

Avoid closing shifts on school nights whenever possible, and ask for weekend or early-evening shifts instead.
Protect a consistent bedtime and wake time as much as you can, even on days off.
Build in a wind-down routine after a late shift so they aren’t going straight from the register to the pillow.
And watch for warning signs: falling asleep in class, a short fuse, dropping grades, or relying on caffeine to get through the day. If you see them, it’s time to cut hours, not push through.

>>>Read: Sleep Tips and Needs for Teens and Tweens

Helping Your Teen Land the Job

Most first-time job seekers have nothing on their resume, and that’s completely normal, but it can make it hard to get a first job. In our current market, I have seen that even basic fast-food places want you to have work experience before they hire you.

Help your teen list what they do have: babysitting, volunteering, school clubs and sports, music, lawn mowing for neighbors, helping in a family business, and any awards or leadership roles. Employers hiring teens are mostly looking for reliability, a good attitude, and the ability to show up on time.

Have your teen line up two or three references who aren’t family, such as a teacher, coach, youth leader, or a neighbor they’ve worked for. Ask those people first, so they’re expecting the call. Then do a practice interview at the kitchen table. Real questions like “Why do you want to work here?” and “What’s your availability?” are easy to stumble over the first time, and a few minutes of practice builds a surprising amount of confidence. Remind your teen to make eye contact, shake hands, and ask a question or two of their own.

Before accepting an offer, your teen should know the answers to a few things: the exact hours and how far ahead the schedule is posted, how to request time off for school events, what the pay is and when payday is, and what the dress code is.

And then here is some reality. Many jobs, even entry-level teen jobs, are about who you know. If your teen knows someone who works somewhere who would be willing to vouch for them, that is a great place to apply.

When Something Isn’t Right at Work

Most teen jobs are great experiences. But you should know your teen’s rights, and your teen should know they can come to you.

Help your teen know what their rights are and that they can stand up for themselves. Teens are basically used to just doing what adults tell them to, so they often don’t realize there are things they can do. Help them figure out how to communicate in a respectful and reasonable way.

If your teen is being asked to work more hours than the law allows, do something dangerous, work through breaks, or work for free (including required training), say something. Employers are responsible for making sure the work a teen does is legal for their age. In Utah, minors who believe they haven’t been paid the minimum wage, haven’t been paid in full, or were paid late can file a wage claim with the Utah Labor Commission. The law also makes it illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for filing a complaint. In other states, the state labor department is the place to start.

The biggest protection, though, is an open door at home. Let your teen know they can tell you if something feels off, and that you’ll help them figure out what to do without getting in trouble. My post on getting kids to talk and open up to you is a great starting point if that’s an area you want to strengthen.

Teen First Job FAQs

Can a 14-year-old get a job?

Yes. Fourteen is generally the minimum age for non-farm work under federal law. Fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds can work in places like offices, grocery stores, restaurants, and retail shops, but they have strict limits on hours and can’t do hazardous work.

Do teens need a work permit?

Federal law doesn’t require one, but many states do. Utah does not require a work permit, though employers must verify age. Check your state’s labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor’s YouthRules site to see what applies where you live.

How many hours can a 15-year-old work?

Under federal rules, up to 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 40 hours in a non-school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day).

How many hours should a teen work during the school year?

Research most often points to keeping it under 20 hours a week, and many families find that much less, especially for a first job, works best. The right number depends on your teen’s grades, sleep, activities, and energy.

What jobs can a 16-year-old do?

At 16, teens can work any job that hasn’t been declared hazardous, and federal law sets no limit on their hours. Some states add their own restrictions, so check your state’s rules.

What if my teen’s grades start to drop?

Cut back hours first and talk about it together. This is much easier if you agreed on a “grades first” rule before the job started. Stay on top of it so you can respond right away and be proactive.

Conclusion

A first job is a big milestone, and it can be a wonderful one. With the right hours, enough sleep, and your steady support in the background, it can teach your teen things no classroom can: responsibility, resilience, and the pride of earning their own money. It can help your child learn how to balance responsibilities in life. It can help cut down time with technology because they won’t have as much time to just scroll.

Want more help with the teen years? Head over to my Parenting Teens page for everything in one place.

Is your teen working right now, or thinking about it? I’d love to hear how it’s going in the comments.

Sources and further reading

This post is general information, not legal advice. Youth employment laws change, so confirm current rules with your state labor department before your teen starts work.

Your Teen’s First Job: Work Permits, Hours, and Balancing Work with School