Official Site of The State of New JerseyYoung Workers in NJ: Rights and Protections for Workers under 18
New Jersey’s Child Labor Law protects you by limiting the number of hours you can work and the type of work you can do. Among other requirements, the law states:
- All minors working in NJ must have an employment certificate, also known as "working papers," or a special permit (see below) for each job they work
- All minors must be given a 30-minute meal break after 6 continuous hours of work. Breaks less than 30 minutes do not count as an interruption of continuous work.
- Minors may not work more than 6 consecutive days in a week.
- Workers under 16 may not work more than 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day, with certain exceptions for agricultural work.
- During the school year, minors under 16 may only work outside of scheduled school hours.
- Workers 16 and up may work up to 50 hours in one week and up to 10 hours a day only between the last day of school and Labor Day.
Workers under 18 are entitled to minimum wage in the following jobs:
- Retail
- Food service (restaurant)
- Hotel/motel
- Beauty culture
- Laundry/cleaning/dyeing
- Light manufacturing apparel
- First processing of farm products
Certain types of employers are not required to pay minors minimum wage. For more information, read the law here. Please refer to New Jersey's Minimum Wage Chart for scheduled increases. Note: this chart shows planned increases. Actual increases may differ based on inflation, or if the federal government increases the federal minimum wage beyond the state’s minimum wage, or both.
Click here to view detailed information all obligations you have toward employees regarding wage and hour law compliance.
Minors under 16 are not allowed to work more than 40 hours per week.
Workers ages 16 and 17 may work up to 50 hours per week during the period between the last day of the school year until Labor Day.
Workers ages 16 and 17 are only eligible for overtime in the following jobs:
- First processing of farm products
- Hotel and motel
- Restaurants
In any other job, workers ages 16 and 17 can work up to 50 hours per week, but are exempt from overtime rate.
Overtime pay is set at 1½ times a worker’s regular hourly wage for hours worked over 40 hours per week.
If you are under the age of 16, you may not work more than 40 hours per week, except in agriculture (see the section on agricultural work to learn more).
If you are 16 or older, you may work up to 50 hours per week during the period between the last day of the school year and Labor Day.
If you are 16 or 17, you are only eligible for overtime rate in the following jobs:
- First processing of farm products
- Hotel and motels
- Restaurants
In any other job, employers can require workers ages 16 and 17 to work up to 50 hours per week, but are not required to pay overtime.
Your employer could be required to pay overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Information on rights under the FLSA can be found here.
Tipped workers are entitled to minimum wage! To make sure you're getting the money you've earned, you'll have to crunch some numbers, including your tips.
If you are under 12, you may not work in agriculture.
If you are over the age of 12, you may work 10 hours per day and 6 days per week during the hours you are not required to be in school. If you are 16 and up, you may work 10 hours per day and 6 days per week during school hours.
If you are under 16, you may use standard domestic type machines, office machines, standard types of poultry feeders, egg graders, egg washers, egg coolers, and milking machines.
If you are 16 and up, you may also drive tractors and operate all machinery except power-driven woodworking machinery, grinding, abrasive, polishing or buffing machines, guillotine action cutting machines, operation or repair of elevators or other hoisting apparatus, corn pickers, power-driven hay balers or power field choppers, compactors, circular saws, band saws and guillotine shears.
Click here to learn more about agricultural jobs for young workers.
Since October 29, 2018, the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law allows employees to collect 1 hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours each year. The law lets employers create policies that provide additional leave time.
Below are lists of permitted occupations jobs for minors. This list is not comprehensive. Note: these jobs are subject to non-performance of dangerous activities and illegal jobs.
At 12 years old, you may engage in the following work:
- Newspaper delivery over residential routes. (may start at 11 years of age)
- Farming in all of its branches
- Gardening
- Nursery work
- Raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry
- Forestry
- Theatrical productions (no minimum age limit)
At 14 years old, you may engage in the following work:
- Clerical and office jobs in industrial wholesale, retail, service, and professional establishments
- Hotel jobs
- Sales persons
- Solicitors
- Collectors
- Distributors
- Demonstrators
- Delivery jobs other than with a motor vehicle
- Newspaper and magazine delivery over non-residential routes
- Restaurant jobs
- Soda fountain jobs
- Mercantile store jobs
- Supermarket and food store jobs
- Amusement industry jobs
- Standard office type machine operators
- Standard domestic type machine operators
- Hospital and health agency jobs
- Library attendants
- Professional assistants
- Counselors at camps, beach attendants, lifeguards, caddies, pinsetters
- Domestic helpers, maids, cooks, cleaners, baby-sitters, janitors
- Singers, models, entertainers, dancers, and theatrical work
- All jobs listed for 12-year-olds (as mentioned in the above section), and many other jobs
At 16 years old, you may engage in the following work:
- Factory machine operators *
- Power lawn mower operators
- Power tool operators *
- Tractor operators
- Machinery operators *
- Mechanic jobs
- All jobs listed for 12- and 14-year-olds, and most other jobs
* Except those specifically prohibited
The lists below are not comprehensive.
Note: the work accident rate incidence is twice the average for workers under 18. If you have a question about a specific occupation, call the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance at (609) 292-2305.
Prohibited products:
- Paints, colors, white and red lead (manufacture and packing only)
- Dangerous or poisonous acids and dyes
- Injurious quantities of toxic or noxious dust, gases, vapors, or fumes
- Benzol or any benzol compound which is volatile, or which can penetrate the skin
- Explosives (manufacture, transportation or use only)
- Toxic and hazardous substances
- Radioactive substances and ionizing radiation
- Carcinogenic substances
- Corrosive materials
- Highly inflammable substances
- Pesticides
Prohibited machinery:
- Power-driven woodworking machinery (supervised bona-fide apprentices may do this work)
- Grinding, abrasive, polishing, or buffing machines
- Punch presses and stamping machines with over 1/4-inch clearance
- Guillotine action cutting machines
- Corrugating, crimping, or embossing machines
- Paper lace machines
- Dough brakes or mixing machines in bakeries or cracker machinery
- Calendar rolls or mixing rolls in rubber manufacturing
- Centrifugal extractors or mangles in laundries or dry-cleaning establishments
- Operation or repair of elevators or other hoisting apparatus (they may operate the push button type)
- Corn pickers, power-driven hay balers, or power field choppers
- Compactors
- Circular saws, band saws, guillotine shears
- Minors under 16 may use standard domestic type machines or appliances, standard office machines, standard types of poultry feeders, egg graders, egg washers, egg coolers, and milking machines but may not use other power-driven machinery such as power tools, power lawn mowers, power woodworking and metal worker tools and power-driven meat slicing and meat grinding machines or conveyors
Prohibited establishments:
- Ore reduction works, smelters, hot rolling mills, furnaces, foundries, forging shops or any other place in which the heating, melting, or heat treatment of metals is carried on
- Mines and quarries
- Establishments where alcoholic liquors are distilled, rectified, compounded, brewed, manufactured, bottled, or sold for consumption on the premises *
- Pool and billiard rooms
- Junk and scrap metal yards
- Disorderly houses
* See Child Labor Law for exceptions
Prohibited activities:
- Oiling, wiping, or cleaning machinery in motion or assisting therein
- Steam boilers carrying a pressure above 15 pounds
- Construction work
- Fabrication or assembly of ships
- Transportation of payrolls off the employer's premises
- Demolition of buildings, ships, or heavy machinery
- Indecent or immoral exposure
- Most occupations in slaughtering, meat packing, processing, or rendering
Misclassification is the practice of illegally categorizing employees as independent contractors.
Misclassification is illegal regardless of whether it was intentional or due to a mistaken belief that workers are independent contractors. Misclassification can also happen when an employer requires an employee to form an LLC or franchise before getting a job.
When you are paid cash off the books, that also means that your employer is not giving you access to employment-based protections like access to social security insurance, unemployment insurance, temporary disability insurance and family leave insurance.
Whether misclassified as independent contractor or paid cash off the books, you’re not at fault, but you could be deprived of work rights and other benefits. Misclassified employees may be entitled to financial award as part of employer penalties.
Learn more here.
If you are under 18 and work in New Jersey, you must have working papers. Click here to learn more and start an application.
- You cannot work more than 6 consecutive days
- You must be given a 30-minute meal break after 6 continuous hours of work. Breaks of less than 30 minutes do not count as an interruption of a continuous work period.
- You must have valid working papers including written parental permission (subject to change effective 6/1/2023).
If you are 16 or 17:
- No more than 40 hours per week
- No more than 8 hours per day
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work week
- Not before 6am or after 11pm
- Not before 6am or after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays or days not followed by a school day
If you are 14 or 15:
- No more than 18 hours per week
- No more than 3 hours per day on school days
- No more than 8 hours per day on Saturday or Sunday
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work week
- Not before 7am or after 7pm with limited exceptions
If you are 12 or 13:
- No more than 18 hours per week
- No more than 3 hours per day on school days
- No more than 8 hours per day on Saturday or Sunday
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work week
- Not before 7am or after 7pm
During the period beginning on the last day of the minor’s school year and ending on Labor Day, a minor between 16 and 18 years of age may work up to 50 hours in one week and up to 10 hours in one day.
If you are 16 or 17:
- No more than 50 hours per week
- No more than 10 hours per day
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work week
- Not before 6am or after 11pm
- Not before 6am or after 3am in restaurant and seasonal amusements
If you are 14 or 15:
- No more than 40 hours per week
- No more than 8 hours per day
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work week
- Not before 7am or after 9pm from the last day of school to Labor Day
If you are 12 or 13:
- No more than 40 hours a week
- No more than 8 hours per day
- No more than 6 consecutive days in a work pay week
- Not before 7am or after 7pm
Training site experiences may not exceed 5 hours on any day that school is in session, nor may the combination of school and work exceed 8 hours on any day that school is in session.
All employees in New Jersey injured on the job are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. An employee’s age does not disqualify them from receiving workers’ compensation benefits.
In NJ, minors injured on the job can receive workers’ compensation benefits regardless of legal employment status. Workers under 18 injured on the job are eligible to receive:
- Medical Benefits
- Temporary Disability Benefits
- Permanent Partial Benefits
- Permanent Total Benefits
- Death Benefits (paid to a minor’s dependents, parents, or legal guardians if they die because of their work-related injury or illness)
If you are employed illegally, you may be entitled to extra benefits depending on the circumstances. These are extra benefits that are not available to adult employees.
If an employer forces you to work in an unsafe and illegal environment, you will be entitled to twice the amount of worker's compensation benefits. The employer, and not their insurance provider, will pay this penalty.
If you were employed in violation of child labor laws, you can also bring a civil suit in Superior Court against your employer. A civil suit may recover compensation beyond that which is available under a workers’ compensation claim. Some examples are compensation for pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Learn more about what to do if you’re injured at work here.
The Office of Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (OPEOSH) conducts general and targeted inspections and investigations to ensure workplace safety. The OPEOSH has the authority to order the correction of any safety or health hazards identified during an inspection. These services are delivered by a staff of safety professionals.
If you are a public sector employee, click here to learn more about this program and other services, including filing a health and safety complaint.
The Occupational Safety Training Program provides occupational safety training for private sector employers and employees. The training is delivered by experienced consultants who will customize courses for employers when needed. The safety training staff receive training through an OSHA Training Institute Education Center to keep abreast of changes in OSHA Standards.
If you are a private sector employee, click here to learn more about these training resources.
As a private sector employee, you can file a workplace health and safety complaint with federal OSHA.
File a wage claim | Presentar un reclamo de salario
If you believe that your employer has not properly paid you, or you have a complaint against an employer for violating a NJ Labor Law enforced by the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, file a wage complaint:
Your identity and other personally identifiable information are protected from disclosure to your employer and others, with limited exceptions. For more information, click here.
If you choose to file anonymously, you must do so by mail. Learn more here.
If you are not sure whether the Division of Wage & Hour Compliance will be able to help you with your complaint, email us for help.
