A 17-year-old can work as late as they want in Georgia. There is no state or federal cutoff time, no curfew, and no cap on daily or weekly hours for workers who have turned 16. A closing shift at a restaurant, an overnight stocking job at a warehouse, a double on the weekend — all legal. The real limits on a 17-year-old’s job are about what the work involves, not when it happens.
Why There’s No Time-of-Day Limit
Georgia’s child labor statute, O.C.G.A. § 39-2-2, restricts when and how long minors under 16 can work. Once a worker turns 16, those rules fall away. The Georgia Department of Labor puts it directly: “minors 16 and 17 years of age have no state or federal law work hour restrictions.”1Georgia Department of Labor. Child Labor Work Hour Restrictions
Federal law lines up with that. The Fair Labor Standards Act does cap hours and times for 14- and 15-year-olds, who cannot work past 7 p.m. during the school year and are limited to a few hours a day.2eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation None of that carries over to 16- and 17-year-olds. Whether the teenager is still in high school or has already graduated makes no difference to the scheduling rules.
So when parents ask whether there’s a legal reason their 17-year-old can’t close down a restaurant at midnight or work an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, the honest answer is no. Any pushback has to come from the family or the employer, not the law.
Overtime and Minimum Wage Still Apply
No hour cap is not the same as no pay protection. A 17-year-old who works more than 40 hours in a workweek is owed overtime at one-and-a-half times their regular rate. The FLSA does not exempt minors from overtime.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 213 Employers sometimes conflate the two ideas, assuming a worker with no hour limits also has no overtime rights. That’s wrong.
On wages, Georgia’s state minimum is $5.15 per hour, but most employers fall under the FLSA and must pay the federal $7.25. There is also a federal youth minimum wage of $4.25 per hour that employers can pay workers under 20 for their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job.4U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32: Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act After 90 days, or on the worker’s 20th birthday, whichever comes first, the regular minimum applies. In competitive hiring markets like food service and retail, most employers pay well above either floor.
Jobs a 17-Year-Old Cannot Do
The actual restrictions on 17-year-olds are the federal Hazardous Occupations Orders. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains 17 of them, and they ban anyone under 18 from the listed work regardless of experience, maturity, or parental consent.5U.S. Department of Labor. Hazardous Occupations – FLSA Child Labor Rules They apply in Georgia the same as everywhere else.
The off-limits categories include manufacturing or storing explosives; coal mining, other mining, logging, sawmill work, and forest firefighting; operating forklifts, cranes, skid-steers, power-driven woodworking machines, metal-forming machines, and industrial saws or wood chippers; operating power-driven meat slicers, grinders, and processing machines, along with commercial dough mixers and bakery equipment;6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations all roofing work, including ground-level tasks like hauling materials to the roof; trenching and excavation; wrecking and demolition; and exposure to radioactive materials beyond normal background levels.
A few orders have narrow exemptions for 16- and 17-year-olds in federally approved apprenticeship or student-learner programs with specific safety training and supervision. A standard OSHA-10 card does not qualify. Outside those programs, the bans are absolute.
Employers who violate the rules face civil penalties above $16,000 per violation, rising to roughly $72,000 per incident if a violation causes serious injury or death, and doubling again for willful or repeated violations. The figures are adjusted upward for inflation each year.7U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
Driving on the Job Is Heavily Restricted
This is the restriction that most often trips up late-shift employers. Even with a valid Georgia license, a 17-year-old is barred by default from driving on public roads as part of their job.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34: Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2 – Youth Employment Provision and Driving Automobiles and Trucks under the FLSA A narrow exception exists, but every condition has to be met:
- Driving only during daylight hours.
- Vehicle no heavier than 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
- Driving is occasional and incidental to the job, meaning no more than one-third of any workday and no more than 20 percent of any workweek.
- Worker has a valid license, has completed a state-approved driver education course, and has no record of moving violations.
- The vehicle has a seat belt and the worker uses it.
Even with every box checked, the driving cannot involve urgent, time-sensitive deliveries. That rules out pizza delivery, rushing a bank deposit before closing, and shuttling passengers to meet a scheduled departure. For a 17-year-old working past sunset, the daylight-only rule alone takes job driving off the table entirely.
Breaks Are Not Required by Law
Neither Georgia nor federal law requires employers to give meal or rest breaks to any worker, minor or adult. A 17-year-old can be scheduled for an eight-hour or longer shift with no legally mandated lunch or rest period. When employers do give a break of 30 minutes or more and the worker is fully relieved of duty, the time can be unpaid. Short breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes count as paid work time under federal rules.
Most employers provide breaks as a matter of policy. A 17-year-old who feels pressured to skip them should understand that the protection, if any, comes from company policy rather than from Georgia or federal statute.
No Work Permit Needed, but ID Still Required
Georgia stopped requiring work permits for 16- and 17-year-olds in July 2015. Only workers under 16 need an Employment Certificate before starting a job.9Georgia Department of Labor. Get A Youth Work Permit Online A 17-year-old can accept an offer and start the next day with no state-issued paperwork.10Georgia Department of Labor. Child Labor Employment Certificate Instructions
Employers do have to verify and record age. The FLSA requires employers to keep the birth date of any worker under 19 on file, with payroll records retained for at least three years.11U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act In practice, a photocopy of a driver’s license in the personnel file handles it.
School Is No Longer Mandatory at 17
Georgia’s compulsory attendance law covers children between 6 and 16. Once a student turns 16, mandatory attendance ends.12Georgia Department of Education. Student Attendance A 17-year-old is past that age, so there is no legal barrier to working during school hours or working late enough to affect the next school day. The scheduling freedom is complete on paper. Whether to actually use that freedom is a separate question for the family and the employer.
Workers’ Comp Covers a Hurt Teen the Same as an Adult
If a 17-year-old gets injured on a late shift in Georgia, workers’ compensation covers them on the same terms as any adult employee. The Workers’ Compensation Act includes minors in its definition of “employee,” covering anyone “working full-time or part-time under a contract of hire, written or implied.”13State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Employer Information Age does not reduce the benefits available.
Coverage still applies even if the minor was performing work that violated child labor rules at the time of the injury. An employer cannot cite its own violation as a reason to deny the claim. An illegal assignment that ends in injury typically adds liability on top of workers’ comp rather than removing it.