Can a 13-Year-Old Work in NC? Jobs, Permits, and Pay

Yes, a 13-year-old can work in NC, but only in a short list of jobs the state carves out from its general rule that employment starts at 14. Those jobs are newspaper delivery, acting, modeling, performing in film or broadcast, and working in a parent’s non-hazardous business. Everything else—retail, restaurants, offices, most outdoor jobs—has to wait another year.

Jobs a 13-Year-Old Can Legally Do

North Carolina’s youth employment statute bars anyone 13 or younger from being employed, with four specific exceptions.¹

Newspaper delivery. A 12- or 13-year-old can deliver newspapers directly to consumers, outside school hours, for no more than three hours a day. This is the one job on the list that does not require a youth employment certificate.¹
Acting and performing. Movies, theatrical productions, radio, and television are open at any age. These workers are exempt from the hour and scheduling limits that apply to other young employees, but they still need a certificate.¹
Modeling. Print and digital modeling follow the same rules as acting: allowed at any age, certificate required.
A parent’s or guardian’s business. A minor can work for a parent, guardian, or someone acting in that role. Two conditions apply: the work cannot be a hazardous occupation, and a certificate is still required.¹

Casual neighborhood work—babysitting, pet-sitting, mowing a neighbor’s lawn—generally isn’t “employment” under the statute, so no certificate is needed. One important caveat: using any power-driven lawn equipment is federally prohibited for anyone under 16, even in a casual arrangement.² A push mower is fine; a riding mower or gas trimmer is not.

Farm Work Follows a Separate Federal Rule

Agricultural work runs on a different track. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 12- and 13-year-olds may work on farms outside school hours in non-hazardous jobs if the farm also employs their parent, or if the parent gives written consent. A child of any age can work at any time on a farm their parents own or operate.³

The non-hazardous requirement has teeth. Federal rules bar young farm workers from operating certain tractors, handling pesticides, and working in timber operations, and parental permission doesn’t change that.

What’s Always Off-Limits

No one under 18 in North Carolina may work in any occupation the U.S. Department of Labor has declared hazardous, or that the state Commissioner of Labor has declared detrimental to a young person’s health or well-being.¹ This matters most for the parent-business exemption: a parent who owns a construction company cannot put their 13-year-old on a job site.

Common hazardous-occupation items that catch families off guard:

Power-driven equipment, including lawn mowers, trimmers, woodworking machines, bakery mixers, and meat slicers.²
Driving on public roads or serving as an outside helper on a motor vehicle.
Forklifts, compactors, balers, and freight elevators.
Jobs involving radioactive substances, explosives, or mining.

The parental-employment exemption does not override any of these bans.¹

Getting the Youth Employment Certificate

Every eligible job for a 13-year-old except newspaper delivery requires a youth employment certificate before work begins.¹ The application runs through the North Carolina Department of Labor’s website. Before you start the form, have this information ready:

The minor’s full legal name and date of birth
The name and location of the minor’s school
The employer’s business name, worksite address, and a supervisor’s phone number

The minor and a parent or guardian both complete the electronic signature. Once submitted, the system generates the certificate for download. Print it, deliver it to the employer, and make sure the employer signs it—without all three signatures (minor, parent or guardian, and employer) the certificate is not valid.⁴ The employer keeps the certificate on file.⁵

Pay and Taxes

North Carolina’s minimum wage matches the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. Federal law also allows a training wage of $4.25 per hour for workers under 20 during their first 90 calendar days with an employer.⁶ The youth training wage is rarely used in practice but is legal.

Income tax withholding applies the same way it does for any employee. There is one notable break for family businesses: a child under 18 who works for a parent’s sole proprietorship, or for a partnership where both partners are the child’s parents, is exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax on those wages. If the parent’s business is a corporation, or a partnership that includes non-parent partners, the exemption does not apply.⁷

A 13-year-old working three hours a day delivering papers is unlikely to earn enough to need to file a return. For 2026, the standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $16,100, and a dependent’s filing threshold for earned income is generally tied to that amount.⁸ If federal income tax was withheld from any paychecks, filing a return is the only way to get it refunded.

What Opens Up at 14

The 14th birthday changes the picture significantly. At 14, North Carolina allows employment in any occupation the U.S. Department of Labor has approved for 14- and 15-year-olds, including retail, food service, office work, and some outdoor jobs. Strict hour limits apply: no more than 3 hours on a school day and 8 on a non-school day, only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (extended to 9 p.m. in summer), with weekly caps of 18 hours in a school week and 40 in a non-school week. Workers under 16 must get a 30-minute break after five consecutive hours.¹ A certificate is still required, and the hazardous-occupation list still applies in full.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 95-25.5 – Youth Employment
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 40 – Overview of Youth Employment Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act in Agricultural Occupations
4
Legal Information Institute. North Carolina Code 13 NCAC 12 .0402 – Application For A Youth Employment Certificate
5
North Carolina Department of Labor. Youth Employment Certificate
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Subminimum Wage
7
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Treatment for Family Members Working in the Family Business
8
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026