Can You Work at 15 in CT? Jobs, Hours, Pay, and Working Papers

Yes, you can work at 15 in CT, but the job has to be on a short list of allowed workplaces, your hours are capped tightly during the school year, and you need a Certificate of Age (working papers) from your school district before your first shift.

Jobs a 15-Year-Old Can Take

Connecticut’s working papers statute ties the Certificate of Age to specific types of workplaces. At fifteen, you qualify for a certificate to work in mercantile establishments (retail stores, grocery stores, department stores), as staff at a non-municipal youth camp, or as a non-municipal lifeguard.¹ Those are the main paid paths through the certificate system.

A separate state statute leaves agricultural work, domestic service, street trades, and newspaper distribution outside its list of restricted occupations for minors.² So farm work, yard maintenance or household help for a neighbor, and a newspaper route are open to a fifteen-year-old year-round without going through the same channels.

Federal rules add a few more options for fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds: intellectual or creative work like tutoring or computer programming, errands on foot or by bicycle, hand car-washing, and limited food-prep tasks such as reheating food or washing dishes.³

Jobs That Are Off-Limits

Restaurants are the big surprise. Fast food feels like a natural first job, but Connecticut’s working papers system requires a certificate showing the minor is at least sixteen before they can work in restaurants, public dining rooms, bowling alleys, barber shops, or theatrical operations.¹ You have to wait until sixteen.

Connecticut also flatly prohibits anyone under sixteen from working in manufacturing or mechanical establishments, laundries, or dry-cleaning facilities. Construction, roofing, demolition, power-driven woodworking machines, heavy equipment, and any machinery the Commissioner of Labor classifies as hazardous for workers under sixteen are off the table too.²

Driving is out as well. Federal law bars anyone under seventeen from driving a motor vehicle on public roads as part of a job, and no one under eighteen can ride outside a vehicle’s cab to help with deliveries.⁴ Any delivery role that puts you behind the wheel or in a delivery truck is off-limits at fifteen.

Hours You Can Work

Both federal and Connecticut law cap your hours, and when they conflict, the stricter rule wins.⁵ For a fifteen-year-old, the federal limits are tighter, so those govern your schedule.

While school is in session:

Up to 3 hours on any school day
Up to 18 hours per week
Only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

When school is out for summer or other vacations:

Up to 8 hours per day
Up to 40 hours per week
Evening cutoff extends to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day³

Connecticut’s own mercantile statute allows up to six hours on a school day and thirty-two hours per week during school weeks for minors under eighteen, but the stricter federal numbers bind you.⁶

The FLSA doesn’t require meal breaks for young workers.⁵ Connecticut requires a thirty-minute meal break after seven and a half consecutive hours, which never comes up during school weeks but can apply to an eight-hour summer shift.

What You’ll Get Paid

Connecticut’s minimum wage is $16.94 per hour as of January 1, 2026.⁷ State law lets employers pay workers under eighteen as little as 85% of that, which works out to about $14.40 an hour.⁸ Many employers pay full minimum wage anyway, but knowing the legal floor helps when you weigh an offer.

You’re a W-2 employee at fifteen like at any other age. Your employer withholds 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare from each paycheck, a combined 7.65%.⁹ Most part-time teen earnings fall under the standard deduction, so income tax usually washes out at filing, but the payroll taxes come out automatically.

How to Get Working Papers in Connecticut

Before any employer can put you on the schedule, you need a Certificate of Age (Form ED-301). There’s no fee. The process has three steps.

Step 1: Get a Promise of Employment

Your future employer fills out a Promise of Employment form listing the specific job duties, the starting hourly rate, and the maximum hours per week.¹⁰ Vague descriptions like “cleaning” or “associate” get rejected. The employer can pull the form from the Connecticut Department of Labor site or put the required information on company letterhead.¹¹ Every field needs to be complete.

Step 2: Gather Proof of Age

Bring a document proving you’re at least fifteen. A birth certificate from a town official is the preferred choice, and a valid passport works too. Baptismal certificates, hospital certificates, physician’s certificates, and a notarized Affidavit of Parent supported by a U.S. Census record are also accepted.¹ If none of these are available, call your school district before making the trip.

Step 3: Go In Person

You have to show up yourself at your local education agency or your nonpublic school’s administrative office with the completed Promise of Employment and your proof of age.¹ A parent can’t go in your place. The issuing agent verifies your identity, reviews the paperwork, and completes the Certificate of Age in triplicate: one copy for you, one for the employer, one for the school. You deliver the employer’s copy, and the employer must keep it on file and available for inspection during business hours.²

Don’t Forget the I-9

Separately, every new hire in the U.S. must complete a Form I-9 to verify identity and work authorization. Most fifteen-year-olds don’t have a driver’s license, but federal rules let minors under eighteen use a school record, a clinic or hospital record, or a day-care or nursery school record as identity documentation.¹² Bring one on your first day.

When Employers Break the Rules

Federal child labor violations carry civil penalties of up to $16,035 per affected minor, with much higher amounts when a worker under eighteen is seriously injured or killed, and figures that can double for repeat or willful conduct.¹³ Connecticut adds its own fines under Chapters 557 and 558 of the General Statutes. If your hours or duties don’t match what’s on your working papers, or your employer never obtained your Certificate of Age in the first place, the arrangement is out of compliance and both state and federal inspectors can audit the records.²

1
CT.gov. Connecticut’s Working Papers Manual Guidelines and Procedures for the Employment of Minors in Connecticut – Section: General Requirements for Issuance
2
Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 31 – Section 31-23 – Employment of Minors Prohibited in Certain Occupations
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Non-Agricultural Jobs – 14-15
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 – Youth Employment Provision and Driving Automobiles and Trucks under the FLSA
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
6
Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 31 – Section 31-13 – Hours of Labor of Minors in Mercantile Establishments
7
CT Department of Labor. Governor Lamont Announces Minimum Wage Will Increase
8
CT.gov. Connecticut’s Working Papers Manual Guidelines and Procedures for the Employment of Minors in Connecticut
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide
10
State of Connecticut Department of Labor. Promise of Employment
11
CT Department of Labor. Employment of Minors
12
USCIS. List B Documents That Establish Identity
13
eCFR. Part 579 Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties