Working at 14 in Indiana is legal, but the state puts tighter limits on you than it does on older teens: your hours are capped, your choice of jobs is narrower, and your employer has to register you in a state database before you start. Federal child labor rules apply on top of Indiana’s, and when the two overlap the stricter rule controls.
How Many Hours You Can Work
Indiana’s hour limits depend on whether school is in session. A “school day” is any day with more than four hours of classroom instruction, and a “school week” is any week with at least three school days.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-18.1-10 – School Day2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-18.1-11 – School Week
During a school week, a 14-year-old can work:
- No more than 3 hours on a school day
- No more than 18 hours total for the week
- Only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
- Not during the hours school is in session
Summer loosens things up. From June 1 through Labor Day, you can work up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, and the evening cutoff moves to 9:00 p.m. One catch: the 9:00 p.m. extension doesn’t apply on a night before a school day. If your district starts the fall term before Labor Day, that later cutoff shrinks back to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday nights and any other night followed by classes.3Indiana Department of Labor. Teen Work Hour Restrictions4U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
Indiana also requires rest breaks for workers under 18. If you’re scheduled for six or more consecutive hours, your employer has to give you breaks totaling at least 30 minutes.
Your employer is required to post the maximum hours and start and end times for minor employees somewhere visible at the workplace, like a break room bulletin board.5Indiana Department of Labor. Work Restrictions for Youth Employees
Jobs a 14-Year-Old Can Take
Most 14-year-olds who find work end up in retail, food service, or outdoor jobs. Federal rules spell out the occupations open to 14- and 15-year-olds, and Indiana enforces that list.6U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs – 14-15 What’s allowed:
- Retail work: cashiering, stocking shelves, bagging groceries, price-marking items
- Food service: washing dishes, cleaning equipment, reheating food, and limited cooking that doesn’t involve grills, fryers, or open flames
- Office and creative work: computer programming, tutoring, filing, answering phones
- Errands and delivery on foot, by bicycle, or by public transportation
- Yard work with hand tools like rakes, hand-held clippers, and shovels (no power mowers or trimmers)
- Pumping gas and hand-washing or polishing cars
- Cleaning, wrapping, labeling, and stocking fruits and vegetables, as long as it’s done away from freezers and meat coolers
In practice, grocery stores, ice cream shops, fast-food counters, and seasonal businesses like amusement parks are the common hires. Not every employer takes applicants at 14, so expect some “we hire at 16” answers before you land one.
Jobs That Are Off-Limits
Both federal and Indiana law bar 14-year-olds from work with serious physical risks, and the Indiana Bureau of Youth Employment enforces the prohibited-occupations list.7Indiana Department of Labor. Prohibited and Hazardous Occupations for Minors The banned categories include:
- Manufacturing and mining, including any workroom where goods are produced, processed, or extracted
- Construction and demolition of any kind
- Operating, adjusting, cleaning, or repairing power-driven machinery, including food slicers, grinders, and bakery mixers
- Working in or near boiler and engine rooms
- Preparing meats for sale, and working in freezers or meat coolers
- Cooking and baking that involves ovens, grills, or open flames (limited reheating is allowed)
This list trips people up most often in restaurant kitchens. At 14 you can wash dishes, bus tables, and work the counter, but you cannot run a commercial slicer, work the grill, or step into the walk-in freezer.8Indiana Department of Labor. Prohibited Occupations for Hoosier Teen Workers
What You’ll Get Paid
Indiana’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, matching the federal floor, and it applies to 14-year-olds the same as any other worker.9U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws There’s one wrinkle: federal law lets employers pay a training wage of $4.25 per hour to employees under 20 during their first 90 calendar days.10U.S. Department of Labor. Subminimum Wage Many employers skip that provision and pay full minimum wage or more from day one, but using it is legal.
At $7.25 and the 18-hour school-week cap, you’d gross about $130 a week during the school year and up to $290 a week in summer. Those numbers go up when the employer pays above minimum, which is common at chain restaurants and retail stores competing for workers.
How Your Employer Signs You Up
Indiana no longer uses paper work permits. Since July 1, 2021, employers register young workers through the Youth Employment System (YES), an online database run by the Indiana Department of Labor. You don’t go to a guidance counselor and don’t bring home a form; signing you up is the employer’s job.11Indiana Department of Labor. Youth Employment System
Any employer with five or more workers ages 14 to 17 is required to register them in YES. Smaller employers can register voluntarily but don’t have to.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-18.1-26 – Employer Data Base; Registration
On your side, you’ll need documents that prove your age and identity for the federal Form I-9 that every new hire fills out. At 14 you probably don’t have a driver’s license, so acceptable alternatives include a birth certificate, a passport, or a school ID with a photo. Your employer can tell you which combination they need.
Work That Falls Outside These Rules
Some kinds of work sit outside Indiana’s child labor framework, meaning the hour caps and prohibited-occupation rules don’t apply the same way:
- Delivering newspapers directly to customers
- Farm work, which is covered by a separate set of federal rules with different age thresholds
- Babysitting and minor chores in private homes
- Working in a business owned entirely by your parents, though the hazardous-occupation restrictions still apply
Child performers in film, theater, radio, and television also operate under a separate framework.13U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
If the Rules Are Being Broken
If an employer is scheduling you past the hour caps, asking you to do prohibited work, or ignoring the rules in another way, you can contact the Indiana Department of Labor at (317) 232-2655. Complaints about unsafe working conditions can also go through the federal OSHA online complaint form, and you can choose to stay anonymous.