How Old Do You Have to Be to Get a Work Permit in California?

In California, you generally have to be at least 14 years old to get a standard work permit, and you apply through your own school rather than a state office. Younger children can work only in narrow situations, the biggest being the entertainment industry, where a separate permit from the Labor Commissioner’s Office is available from 15 days of age. Nearly every minor under 18 who takes a job in California needs a permit before the first shift, and a new one is required for each employer.

The Age Rules

Fourteen is the practical starting line for regular employment. Below that age, work options are extremely limited outside of entertainment.¹

With very few exceptions, every minor under 18 employed in California must hold a permit, and every employer must have a valid Permit to Employ and Work on file before letting a minor start. The requirement still applies if you have dropped out of school, because California’s compulsory education laws continue to cover dropouts. Emancipated minors also need a permit, but they can apply without a parent’s signature.¹

Situations Where No Permit Is Needed

A handful of jobs fall outside the permit system entirely:

Self-employment, including a minor running their own small business.
Odd jobs in private homes, such as babysitting, mowing lawns, or raking leaves.
Newspaper delivery on a regular route, if the minor is self-employed and at least 12 years old.
Domestic work on property a parent or guardian owns or operates.

The parent exception is narrower than it sounds. Parents cannot employ their own children in manufacturing, retail, or other commercial businesses without a work permit, and parents are still bound by the same hazardous-occupation restrictions as any other employer.² Agriculture works the same way: a child of any age can work on a farm owned or operated by their parents, but a minor working for any other agricultural employer needs a permit.³

How to Apply

The application is a single form filled out by three people, then approved by your school. A new permit is required for each employer, so changing jobs means starting over.

Fill Out Form B1-1

The form is titled “Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit – Certificate of Age.” You can get it from your school’s front office, career center, or the California Department of Education’s website.⁴

It has three parts. You fill in personal information such as name, address, and date of birth. The employer completes a section on job duties, the proposed schedule, and business contact details. A parent or legal guardian then signs to confirm they consent to the employment. Emancipated minors skip the parent signature but still need every other section completed.¹

Submit It to Your School

The completed B1-1 goes to your school, where an authorized official reviews it. That reviewer checks that the proposed job and schedule comply with state labor law, and also looks at your academic standing and attendance. Some districts require a minimum GPA, such as 2.0, to issue a permit.⁵

If everything checks out, the school issues Form B1-4, the “Permit to Employ and Work.” That is the actual legal document that authorizes you to start.⁴

Give the Permit to Your Employer

You hand the B1-4 to your employer, who must keep it on file at the worksite. The employer has to retain the permit until the beginning of the fourth year after it was issued, and it must be available for inspection by school officials or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement at any time.⁵

What the Permit Lets You Do at Your Age

California caps how many hours a minor can work and when those hours can fall, and the limits shift at age 16. When state and federal rules conflict on a point, the stricter one wins.

Ages 14 and 15

During the school year, you can work up to 3 hours on a school day and 8 hours on a non-school day, with an 18-hour weekly cap. Every hour has to fall outside school hours. When school is out for summer or another break, the limits rise to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.²

Your work window runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. year-round, extending to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.²

Ages 16 and 17

Older teens get considerably more room. You can work up to 4 hours on a school day and 8 hours on a non-school day, with a 48-hour weekly maximum that applies whether school is in session or not.⁶

The allowed hours run from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on nights before a school day, and from 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. when the next day is not a school day.²

Jobs You Cannot Take Even With a Permit

Federal law bars anyone under 18 from occupations the Department of Labor has designated as hazardous, and California enforces those restrictions too. The prohibited categories include:

Roofing work and demolition or wrecking operations.
Underground mines, open quarries, sand and gravel operations, and trenching deeper than four feet.
Driving motor vehicles or serving as a driver’s helper loading and unloading.
Operating forklifts, skid-steers, cranes, scissor lifts, and other power-driven hoisting equipment.
Using power-driven cutting tools such as circular saws, band saws, chain saws, woodchippers, and meat slicers.
Manufacturing, storing, or working near explosives or radioactive materials.
Certain manufacturing work, including brick and tile production, bakery machines, and metalworking equipment.

The full list is longer and catches some jobs a teenager might not expect. Running a commercial trash compactor or a deli meat slicer is off-limits even at a grocery store.⁷

When a Permit Can Be Taken Away

The permit is not permanent. Under California Labor Code Section 1300, the school or the Labor Commissioner can revoke it if the job is hurting your health or education, if the employer is violating a condition of the permit, or if you are performing work that violates the law. A permit can also be canceled retroactively if the conditions for issuing it never actually existed.²

There is no statewide GPA cutoff that triggers automatic revocation, but individual districts set their own academic policies. If your grades slip after you start working, expect your school to look hard at whether the job is the cause.

Entertainment Work Has Its Own Permit

If the job is acting, modeling, performing, or working on a phonographic recording, the permit does not come from your school. Minors from 15 days old through 17 years old need an Entertainment Work Permit from the Labor Commissioner’s Office, and the requirement applies even to noncommercial entertainment.¹

Entertainment permits are renewed every six months until you turn 18, and applications can be submitted online or by mail at any Labor Commissioner’s Office. Minors between 14 and 17 face an extra step: both the minor and their parent or guardian must complete sexual harassment prevention training before the permit is granted.⁸⁹

California also requires employers to deposit 15 percent of a minor entertainer’s gross earnings into a blocked trust account, commonly called a Coogan account. Proof of that account is generally required before the entertainment permit will be issued, and the funds stay locked until the minor turns 18.

1
California Department of Industrial Relations. Information on Minors and Employment
2
California Department of Industrial Relations. Summary Chart – Child Labor Laws
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Are You a Teen Working in Agriculture?
4
California Department of Education. Work Permits for Students – Work Experience Education
5
California Department of Education. Frequently Asked Questions – Work Permits
6
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1391
7
U.S. Department of Labor. What Jobs Are Off-Limits for Kids?
8
California Department of Industrial Relations. Procedures for Obtaining an Entertainment Work Permit for Minors
9
California Department of Industrial Relations. Entertainment Work Permit for Minors