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Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Labor and Employment Law Division administers the child labor laws.
Work age
Youths must be:
- None specified for agricultural and domestic work for parents or casual work in private homes
- 12 for non-hazardous agricultural jobs and pages in state legislature (with parental consent)
- 16 to do door-to-door sales, agricultural jobs (including driving), working for volunteer fire department, and most factory jobs (must have adult supervision)
- 18 for all hazardous jobs
- 21 for bartending
Effective July 1, 2025, children 16 years of age or older may work in a licensed barbershop or cosmetology salon, provided:
- The child is an apprentice;
- The child is employed in a work-training program; or
- The child has obtained a cosmetology or barber license from the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology.
Effective July 1, 2025, content creators whose content includes a child’s (under 16) likeness, name, or photograph must have a trust account for the child’s earnings. The content creator must also keep certain records and give them to the child and the trust holder on an ongoing basis.
Work hours
Youths under age 16 may work:
- 7 am to 7 pm (9 pm from June 1 through Labor Day)
- 4 am to 7 pm for newspaper carriers over age 12 (June 1 through Labor Day)
- 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week (3 hours/day, 18 hours/week when school is in session)
Virginia has no work hour restrictions for youth 16 and older.
Driving as part of employment
In March 2009, Virginia revised the child labor statutes to permit minors of age 17 to drive motor vehicles under limited circumstances. These requirements are similar to the federal child labor rules for driving as described in Fact Sheet #34.
Children who are at least 17 years of age may drive automobiles or trucks on public roadways if:
- The automobile or truck does not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, the vehicle is equipped with seat belts for the driver and any passengers, and the employer requires the employee to use the seatbelts when driving the automobile or truck;
- Driving is restricted to daylight hours;
- The employee has a valid state license for the type of driving involved and has no record of any moving violations at the time of hire;
- The employee has successfully completed a state-approved driver education course;
- The driving does not involve: (i) the towing of vehicles; (ii) route deliveries or route sales; (iii) the transportation for hire or property, goods, or passengers; (iv) urgent, time-sensitive deliveries; or (v) the transporting at any time of more than three passengers, including the employees of the employer;
- The driving performed by the employee does not involve more than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day for the purpose of delivering goods of the employee's employer to a customer;
- The driving performed by the employee does not involve more than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day for the purpose of transporting passengers, other than employees of the employer;
- The driving takes place within a 30-mile radius of the employee's place of employment; and
- The driving is only occasional and incidental to the employee's employment and involves no more than one third of the employee's work time in any workday and no more than 20 percent work time in any work week
Breaks
Youths must be given a 30-minute break every 5 continuous hours of work.
Permits
Youths under age 16 must provide the employer with an employment certificate (including vacation and part-time certificate) issued by local school officials. Employers must keep time cards with the names of all minor employees, starting and quitting times, mealtimes, and rest breaks.
Employer records must also include the address, age, evidence of age, sex, date of birth, nature of work, hours worked, place where work is performed, and wages payable and paid to each minor. These records must be retained for 36 months.
State
Contact
Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Labor and Employment Law Division
Regulations
The Virginia Child Labor Law can be found in Title 40.1, Chapter 5, Sections 40.1-78 through 40.1-116 of the Code of Virginia.
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