In Michigan, how late a minor can work depends on age and whether school is in session. Teens who are 16 or 17 can work until 10:30 p.m. on school nights and until 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, with that later 11:30 p.m. cutoff applying every night once school is out. Minors who are 14 or 15 must be off the clock by 7:00 p.m. during the school year and by 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. These curfews come from Michigan’s Youth Employment Standards Act (YESA), and employers who ignore them face criminal penalties.
Latest Work Hours for 16 and 17-Year-Olds
The baseline curfew for 16 and 17-year-olds is 10:30 p.m. During weeks when school is in session, they cannot work between 10:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. On Friday and Saturday nights, the curfew moves to 11:30 p.m.1Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.111 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
Hours are also capped. In a week when school is in session, a 16 or 17-year-old can work no more than 24 hours total. On any single day, school or not, the ceiling is 10 hours.1Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.111 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
Shifts cannot start before 6:00 a.m. any day of the week, and that early-morning boundary does not shift for weekends or breaks.
Federal law does not add anything on this end of the age range. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets no hour or time-of-day restrictions for workers 16 and older, so every curfew and cap for this group comes from Michigan alone.
Latest Work Hours for 14 and 15-Year-Olds
The window is much narrower for younger teens. During the school year, which the statute defines as the day after Labor Day through May 31, a 14 or 15-year-old cannot work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.110 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
The daily and weekly limits are strict. During weeks when school is in session, the maximum is 18 hours per week, with no more than 3 hours on any school day.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.110 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt) In practice, the 3-hour school-day cap means an after-school shift usually runs from around 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the latest.
Michigan’s statute does not set a specific daily hour limit for this age group when school is out, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does: it caps non-school days at 8 hours, and employers must follow whichever law is stricter.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for Nonagricultural Occupations
Summer and School Break Hours
The rules loosen once school is out.
For 16 and 17-year-olds, the 11:30 p.m. curfew that normally applies only on Fridays and Saturdays extends to every night of the week during school breaks. Weekly hours rise from 24 to a maximum of 48, and the 10-hour daily ceiling still applies.1Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.111 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
For 14 and 15-year-olds, the evening curfew moves from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. The weekly cap rises from 18 hours to 40. The 7:00 a.m. earliest-start time stays the same year-round.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.110 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
The 30-Minute Break That Affects When a Shift Can End
Any shift long enough to trigger a meal break will push the effective end time later. Michigan requires every working minor to receive at least a 30-minute meal and rest period for every five consecutive hours of work. Anything shorter than 30 minutes does not interrupt the continuous work period.4Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.112 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt) That means a 4:00 p.m. start with a five-hour shift and a 30-minute break ends at 9:30 p.m., not 9:00 p.m. Splitting the break into two 15-minute pieces does not satisfy the requirement.
When the Curfews Don’t Apply
A few categories of minors sit outside the standard hour and curfew rules.
A minor who has graduated from high school or earned a high school equivalency certificate is exempt from the YESA’s hour and curfew limits. So is a minor aged 17 or older who has passed the GED test. In each case, the employer must obtain a copy of the graduation or equivalency certificate and keep it on file before the minor starts work.5Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.116 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
Emancipated minors are fully exempt from the YESA, and the employer must obtain proof of emancipation before hiring.6Michigan Legislature. MCL Chapter 409 – Youth Employment Standards Act
There is also a narrow agricultural carve-out. Minors 16 and older working in farming operations tied to seed production or in agricultural processing (cleaning, sorting, or packaging fruits and vegetables) can work beyond the normal hour and curfew limits when school is not in session, up to a maximum of 62 hours per week. Even so, the employer cannot require more than 48 hours without the minor’s consent, and work between 2:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. remains prohibited.1Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.111 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
The YESA also does not apply to minors working for a business owned entirely by their parent, those delivering newspapers, or those working as performers, though other labor protections may still apply.
What Happens if an Employer Schedules a Minor Past Curfew
Michigan treats YESA violations as criminal offenses. An employer who schedules a minor past curfew or exceeds the weekly hour caps commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.7Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.122 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
More serious violations carry heavier penalties. Employing a minor in work that endangers their safety carries fines up to $2,000 for a first offense and up to $5,000 for a second. A third violation becomes a felony, with penalties reaching 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Employing a minor in prohibited abusive activities is a felony carrying up to 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.7Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 409.122 – Youth Employment Standards Act (Excerpt)
Federal penalties run alongside the state charges. The U.S. Department of Labor can impose civil fines of up to $16,035 per minor for each child labor violation, and up to $72,876 per violation that causes death or serious injury to a worker under 18. Those figures double for repeat or willful violations.8eCFR. Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties An employer can face both state criminal charges and federal civil penalties for the same conduct.