California Minor Work Permits: Types, Hour Limits, and Penalties

A California minor work permit is required before almost any person under 18 can start a job in the state, and the type of permit depends on the minor’s age and the kind of work. Teenagers ages 14 through 17 in ordinary jobs get a standard permit through their school district. Children 12 and 13 can only work in a few narrow categories and need a special permit. Anyone under 18 working in film, television, or live performance goes through the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement instead of the school.¹

Which Permit You Need

Three tracks cover almost every situation:

Ages 14 through 17 in a regular job (retail, food service, office work): standard permit, issued by the school district.
Ages 12 and 13 in one of a few federally allowed jobs, such as newspaper delivery or light agricultural work: special permit, also through the school district.
Any minor working in entertainment, from a 15-day-old infant on a commercial shoot to a 17-year-old series regular: entertainment work permit from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).²

Only a permit issued by a California school district or the DLSE is valid in California. An out-of-state permit will not transfer.

How to Get a Standard Work Permit for Ages 14–17

The starting document is CDE Form B1-1, the Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit–Certificate of Age. Both the minor and the employer must complete it before any work begins.³ The form collects the employer’s business name, address, and phone number, the minor’s identifying information, and the proposed schedule, including daily hours and days of the week.

The steps:

Pick up a blank B1-1 from the high school attendance office or download it from the California Department of Education.
The employer fills in the business details and the proposed schedule.
The minor and the parent or guardian complete their sections and sign.
Return the completed form to the school district where the minor lives.
The district reviews the form, verifies grades and attendance, and issues Form B1-4, the actual Permit to Employ and Work.⁴

Most districts require at least a 2.0 grade point average and satisfactory attendance before they will sign off. School-issued permits are generally free. Processing usually takes a few business days. The employer keeps the approved permit on file at the work location and must produce it for inspection on request.⁵

Special Permit for Ages 12 and 13

Federal law generally prohibits hiring anyone under 14 for non-agricultural work. The exceptions are narrow: newspaper delivery, acting and performing, and work on a parent’s own farm outside school hours.⁶ A 12- or 13-year-old who fits one of these exceptions applies through the local school district. The application requires written parental consent and age verification by birth certificate or passport. Retail and food service are not on the list, and districts will reject applications that describe work outside the permitted categories.

Entertainment Work Permits

Minors working in film, television, theater, or other entertainment work go through the DLSE rather than a school. The application uses DLSE Form 277, and a school official must sign it certifying that grades and attendance meet standards. Applications go to the Labor Commissioner’s Office through an online portal or by mail; digital submissions are usually faster.⁷

Two durations are available. A six-month permit is the standard option for recurring work and requires a birth certificate along with school approval. A ten-day temporary permit is designed for one-off projects; minors from 15 days old through 15 years can apply without the birth certificate and school approval otherwise required for the six-month version.

Plan for up to two weeks on a six-month permit. Ten-day temporary permits for older minors can move faster. Have the school records, birth certificate, and any medical documentation ready before you start the application, because incomplete files are the most common cause of delay.

Infants Under One Month

California allows infants as young as 15 days old to work on set, but only with a written certification from a licensed physician who is board certified in pediatrics or family medicine. The doctor must attest that the infant was carried to full term, was of normal birth weight, and has sufficiently developed lungs, eyes, heart, and immune system to handle a production environment.⁸ For infants between 15 days and one month, the ten-day permit is not issued immediately. The DLSE verifies the medical certification first, and approval comes by email within one business day of that verification.⁷

Studio Teachers on Set

Employers must provide a studio teacher for every call involving minors from 15 days old through their 16th birthday, and for 16- and 17-year-olds when the minor’s education requires it. The studio teacher instructs the child, watches for fatigue, and monitors working conditions. If conditions endanger the child’s health or safety, the teacher can pull the minor off set, and that decision stands until the Labor Commissioner rules on any employer appeal.⁹

Coogan Trust Account

California’s Coogan Law requires the employer to withhold 15 percent of a minor’s gross entertainment earnings and deposit it into a blocked trust account, commonly called a Coogan Account, within 15 days of employment. The account is held at a bank, credit union, or brokerage firm, and the minor cannot access it until age 18. Parents cannot spend or borrow from it. This is a statutory requirement for every minor working in entertainment in California.

Hour Limits Once the Permit Is Issued

The permit authorizes only what state and federal hour rules allow, and when the two differ, the stricter rule controls.¹⁰

Ages 14 and 15

School days: no more than 3 hours.
Non-school days: no more than 8 hours.
School weeks: no more than 18 hours total.
Non-school weeks: no more than 40 hours total.
No work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. during the school year. The evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.

Ages 16 and 17

California caps 16- and 17-year-olds at 4 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, and 48 hours in a non-school week. Federal law does not cap hours for this group, so the California limits control. The schedule on the B1-1 has to fit inside these numbers, and the district checks it before issuing the B1-4.

Jobs Minors Cannot Do

A permit does not open every job. Federal law bars anyone under 18 from 17 categories of hazardous work, including roofing, excavation, demolition, operating power-driven woodworking or metalworking machines, and work involving radioactive materials or explosives. Setting up, cleaning, repairing, or adjusting hazardous machinery counts as prohibited operation.⁶

The rules tighten further for 14- and 15-year-olds. This group cannot operate or tend any power-driven machinery except office equipment. No meat slicers, no forklifts, no bakery mixers, no balers or compactors, and no power saws of any kind. They cannot work from ladders or scaffolds either.¹⁰ A grocery store that asks a 15-year-old to run the deli slicer or load the trash compactor is committing a federal child labor violation, permit or no permit.

What a Minor Must Be Paid

California’s minimum wage as of January 1, 2026 is $16.90 per hour, and it applies to minors with no exception.¹¹ Federal law permits a youth minimum wage of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 calendar days on the job.¹² That federal rate is irrelevant in California, because the stricter state rate controls. Any employer paying a teenager less than $16.90 an hour is violating California law.

How a Permit Can Be Revoked

A work permit is not permanent. The school official who issued it, or the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, can revoke it when the employment is harming the minor’s health or education, when a condition on the permit is being violated, or when the work itself is illegal.¹³ The Labor Commissioner also has cancellation authority. In practice, a drop in grades or missed school days can cost a teenager the permit and the job with it.

A permit can also be pulled retroactively if the employer misrepresented the job duties or the schedule on the B1-1. Both school attendance officers and labor officials can inspect permits at any time, and employers must keep them on file for that purpose.¹⁴

Employer Penalties

Employers who skip the permit or assign a minor to prohibited work face penalties at both levels. California assesses $1,000 for a first Class A violation, $2,000 for a second, and $5,000 for each violation after the third.¹⁵ Federal civil penalties reach up to $16,035 per minor per violation, and up to $72,876 when a violation causes the death or serious injury of a worker under 18, with that figure doubling for repeat or willful violators.¹⁶ If a job offer skips the permit paperwork or promises hours that exceed the age limits above, the employer is the one taking the risk, and it is a good reason to walk away.

1
California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 49160
2
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 1308.5
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit-Certificate of Age
4
California Department of Education. Work Permits for Students
5
California Department of Industrial Relations. California Child Labor Laws
6
eCFR. Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
7
Department of Industrial Relations. Procedures for Obtaining an Entertainment Work Permit for Minors
8
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 1308.8
9
Department of Industrial Relations. Studio Teachers – Requirements for Certification
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
11
California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
13
California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 49164
14
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 1299
15
California Department of Industrial Relations. Penalties for Class A Violations
16
eCFR. Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties