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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
The New Jersey Department of Labor, Labor Standards and Safety Enforcement, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance administers the child labor laws.
Work age
Youths must be:
- No age specified for agricultural or domestic work for parent, in street trades, or in the performing arts
- 12 for agricultural work (other than parents) and for delivering newspapers
- 14 for non-hazardous work outside of factories
- 16 for factory work, operating machinery, and work where alcohol is prepared or sold
- 18 for all jobs
Work hours
Youths under 16 may work:
- 7 am to 7 pm (9 pm during summer vacation with parents’ consent and 11:30 in theater jobs)
- 6 am to 7 pm for newspaper carriers ages 11 through 14
- 5:30 am to 8 pm for newspaper carriers over 14
- 8 hours/day, 6 days/week, 40 hours/week (3 hours/day, 18 hours/week when school is in session)
- 10 hours/day maximum for agricultural work
Youth 16 and older may work:
- 6 am to 11 pm on school nights
- After 11 pm during vacations and when there is no school the next day with parental consent (10 pm in factory work, regardless of the day of the week)
- 8 hours/day, 6 days/week, 40 hours/week
Breaks
Youth must be given a 30-minute break every 5 hours.
Permits
Youth under age 18 must have an employment certificate issued by local school officials. Certificate must be returned to issuing agency at termination. Employer must retain a record of the youth’s birth date, address, daily hours, starting and stopping times, mealtimes, and wages for one year. For newspaper carriers, age certificate with additional information about route, must be retained for two years.
Postings
Employers must post a summary of child labor laws, including a list of prohibited jobs which is available from the New Jersey Department of Labor. Employer also must post a work schedule for each youth.
State
Contact
New Jersey Department of Labor, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance
Regulations
New Jersey rules on employment of minors can be found at Title 34, Chapter 2, Section 21 of the New Jersey Permanent Statutes.
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/wagehour/lawregs/child_labor_law.html
Federal
Contact
The Department of Labor is the sole federal agency that monitors child labor and enforces child labor laws. Enforcement of the Fair Labor Standard Act's child labor provisions is handled by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department’s Employment Standards Administration.
Regulations
U.S. child labor regulations can be found in CFR 29:
Part 570 Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
Part 575 Waiver of Child Labor Provisions for Agricultural Employment of 10 and 11 Year Old Minors In Hand Harvesting of Short Season Crops
Part 579 Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties