How Old Do You Have to Be to Get a Job in Connecticut?

In Connecticut, you have to be at least 14 years old to get a job, though a 14-year-old’s options are narrow and most standard jobs open up at 15 or 16. Every worker under 18 needs an employment certificate (working papers) before starting, and the minimum wage applies to minors just like adults, which puts the floor at $16.94 per hour as of 2026.¹

What You Can Do at 14

Fourteen is the general minimum employment age in Connecticut, but the list of allowed jobs is short. A 14-year-old can work as a caddie or in a pro shop at a golf course, or participate in an approved school work-study program, a municipal summer work-recreation program, or a vocational probation or parole placement.² Outside those categories, a 14-year-old has essentially no options on a regular employer’s payroll.

Some work sits outside the child labor rules entirely, and children younger than 14 can do it. Federal law exempts newspaper delivery, casual babysitting, and minor chores around private homes from age restrictions.³ A child of any age can also work for a business owned entirely by their parents, as long as the work isn’t in manufacturing, mining, or a hazardous occupation. Connecticut similarly exempts domestic service and agricultural work on a family farm.

What Opens Up at 15

Turning 15 adds retail and recreation. A 15-year-old can work in a retail store as a bagger, cashier, or stock clerk, work as a staff member at a youth camp, or work as a lifeguard.² These jobs are generally limited to school vacation periods of five or more consecutive days, not the school year itself. One exception: a 15-year-old with working papers can work Saturdays year-round at a retail food store.⁴

Hours for 14- and 15-year-olds are tightly capped. Work is limited to eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, with all hours falling between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. From July 1 through the first Monday in September, 15-year-olds can stay until 9:00 p.m.⁴

What Opens Up at 16

Sixteen is where most workplaces become available. Connecticut bars anyone under 16 from working in manufacturing, restaurants, bowling alleys, barber shops, and most retail or theatrical settings unless they’re in one of the approved school or municipal programs.² Once a minor turns 16, those industries open up.

Hour limits still apply to anyone under 18 who hasn’t graduated from high school, and they change based on the type of workplace and whether school is in session. Weekly caps generally run 32 hours during school weeks and 40 to 48 hours during vacations, with daily caps of six hours on a school day and eight on other days.⁵ Manufacturing allows up to nine hours per day and 48 per week during non-school weeks.⁶

Night cutoffs also shift by industry. In manufacturing and most retail, no work between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., extended to 11:00 p.m. on nights that don’t precede a school day; supermarkets over 3,500 square feet can go until midnight on those non-school-nights.⁷ No minor can be fired or disciplined for refusing to work past 10:00 p.m.

Jobs Nobody Under 18 Can Do

Some work stays off-limits until 18 regardless of age category. Federal law lists 17 hazardous occupations that no minor under 18 can perform, including roofing, excavation, operating power-driven saws or meat-slicing machines, mining, demolition, and work with explosives or radioactive materials.⁸ Connecticut adds its own hazardous designations alongside the federal list.⁹

State law carves out narrow exceptions. A minor 16 or older in a registered apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship program in manufacturing can work in settings that would otherwise be barred, and so can minors who have graduated from high school or a technical education program.² Employers can also ask the state Labor Department for a written determination that a specific task within a hazardous industry isn’t dangerous as performed at their workplace.⁹

If You’ve Already Graduated From High School

A minor under 18 who has already graduated from high school is treated much like an adult under Connecticut law. Graduates are exempt from the state’s hour restrictions and prohibited-occupation rules, so they can work adult schedules and take jobs otherwise closed to minors under state law.¹⁰ Federal hazardous occupation bans still apply, though, so a 17-year-old graduate still can’t roof a house or operate a meat slicer.

Getting Your Working Papers

Every worker under 18 in Connecticut needs an employment certificate before starting the job. The state form is the Certificate of Age Form ED-301, and the process runs like this:¹¹

Get the job offer first. You can’t apply for working papers without one, and the employer supplies a Promise of Employment letter.
Check the letter for the required contents: the workplace address, your hourly wage (at or above minimum wage), a specific description of your job duties, the maximum hours per week you’ll be asked to work, and the signature of an authorized manager. Vague descriptions like “cleaning” won’t pass review.¹²
Take the letter and proof of age to your school district’s superintendent or their designee, usually someone at your school. Proof of age can be a birth certificate, driver’s license, learner’s permit, or passport.
The designee reviews the letter, confirms the job is legal for your age, and issues the papers on the spot if everything checks out.
Hand the papers to the employer, who keeps them on file and must make them available to Labor Department inspectors. They stay on file until two years after you turn 18.

Working papers are job-specific. Switch employers and you start over with a new Promise of Employment letter and a new certificate.

If an Employer Breaks the Rules

You can file a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Labor’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division. Federal violations go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243. Complaints are confidential, and employers are prohibited from retaliating against anyone who files one or cooperates with an investigation.¹³

1
State of Connecticut. Minimum Wage Information
2
Justia. Connecticut Code 31-23 – Employment of Minors Prohibited in Certain Occupations Exceptions
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
4
Connecticut Department of Labor. Permitted Occupations for 14 and 15 Year Olds
5
Connecticut Department of Labor. Time and Hour Restrictions for 16 and 17 Year-Old Minors
6
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 557 – Employment Regulation
7
Justia. Connecticut Code 31-14 – Night Work of Minors RegulatedConnecticut General Statutes 31-18 – Hours of Labor of Minors in Certain Other Establishments
8
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA – Child Labor Rules
9
Legal Information Institute. Connecticut Agencies Regulations 31-23-1 – Employment of Minors
10
Connecticut Department of Labor. Employment of Minors
11
Connecticut Department of Labor. Steps in Obtaining Working Papers for Minors
12
Connecticut Department of Labor. Required Information in a Promise of Employment Letter
13
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint